The Great Escape
by aswiftlytiltingreality
Summary: Written for LJ and I'm now posting it here. Jayne saves River from some men and starts to realize that companions aren't really all that great. Definite Rayne
1. Chapter 1

**I own nothing. _This was a fic I wrote exclusively for LJ and now that I'm working on its sequel, I posting this here. Enjoy the fluffiness._**

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Jayne glared across the bar at Inara and Kaylee, Inara's cutting words echoing in his ears. _"You're a selfish, habitual womanizer and no woman will ever be attracted to a man like that."_

Jayne gulped down his drink and barely listened to Mal and Zoe as he looked over the crowded hotel bar. He needed to find him a non-workin' type girl to test Inara's theory out on. He frowned to himself. Testing out her assumptions probably weren't the best way to get her to quit actin' like such a priss and jump in the sack with him. Especially with the moon eyes she'd been makin' at the Captain everytime they pulled some heroic type stuff-which he didn't understand since Mal was always gettin' himself shot somehow. Or into a bigger mess than he'd ever planned. Mostly it was both.

"She's in her room," said a slimy voice behind Jayne.

"And you got the key, right?"

Jayne tried to hide his smirk. He always found it funny when a man couldn't handle his woman when she got to be a handful. Women like that was all kinds of shiny in his opinion. A third voice joined the fray. "I ain't feelin' too good 'bout this-"

"Shut it, James, you'll jinx it."

Jayne poured himself another glasses of cheap rotgut and listened with mild interest. It was taking his mind of Inara, which was something he needed.

"Look, Remy, all's I'm sayin' is she's core an' that means trouble if'n we get caught."

Jayne had been in the process of bringing his drink up to his lips, but paused upon hearing that. The conversation weren't exactly headin' in the direction he had been expecting.

"Settle down, man, it'll be fine. We done this what? A hundred times an' ain't nobody got any clue it's us. We get a hold of her, have or fun with her, an' dump 'er where nobody will find her. Just cause she's core don't mean it's gonna make it harder, just means we gotta be extra careful an' we're always careful." That voice was the one that bothered Jayne most. It was a smooth talkin' voice, belonged to the kinda guy that could get all he wanted usin' it.

"But Remy-"

"You sayin' you'd rather go without an' just wonder what all that shiny, smooth skin feels like?"

The first man jumped back in. "We just gotta wait for her brother to go up to his room 'fore we nab her."

Jayne's stomach churned. He'd heard this kinda thing happening on the planet for a while now; Mal had warned Inara and Kaylee when they docked to be extra careful and not to go making any male friends whilst out and about Heinlein. Jayne was a man of few beliefs, but there was one that had managed to hold truer than steel in his mind: a man never _ever_ treats a woman wrong. He don't touch her less she wants him to touch in this did not sound like the kind of touchin' that core girl they was talkin' about would be in for.

Jayne made a sour face at his drink. He couldn't just tell Mal and Zoe. They'd either think he was making some off color joke or bring unwanted attention. He couldn't follow them and try to keep her out of the room. Somebody might hear the ruckus he caused from beatin' them to a bloody pulp and assume either he was in on it or he was the culprit and they were the rescuers. That meant he'd have to let them nab her and wait it out until he found the right time to move in and get her from them. Jayne groaned inwardly, it would be him that had to do the rescuin' if he wanted ti to go off without a hitch. He lifted his glass to finish it off and frowned at it. He weren't really in the mod for drinkin'. All the talk of roughin' up a woman had made him a mite unsettled. He slammed his glass down and stood. "I'm goin' for a walk."

"Okay," Mal said with a blink, confused by Jayne's utterly dark mood. Jayne rewarded his captain with a glare and began to storm toward the door when he was waylayed by Kaylee and a very indifferent companion. Kaylee's brow furrowed in confusion. "What's wrong? Cap'n said you was gonna stay an' spend time with all a us."

Jayne shifted from foot to foot. So Inara hadn't exactly said it less than twenty-four hours ago and it had in fact been more like a month ago. So, it had caused him to spend all of his freetime in his bunk. Didn't mean the Captain had to make it out like he had some sickness that was layin' him up.

"Somethin' came up," he muttered, "gotta take care of it."

"You wouldn't happen to have to be in a whorehouse to do so, would you," Inara asked in an acidic tone. Jayne just glared at her. "See ya later, Kaylee."

He stormed off without waiting for a response, hearing Kaylee say in a worried voice, "I ain't got a good feelin' 'bout this, 'Nara. Somethin' ain't right."

He didn't wait for the companion to respond. He had more important things to worry about. Like helpin' that coregirl. He stepped out of the hotel and looked up and down the street. He needed a clear view of the place so he could know when they came out. He settled for sandwiching himself between two of the town's specialty shops and made himself comfortable amongst the shadows cast by a cluster of barrels and he began to wait. The hours ticked by slowly and Jayne began to wonder if maybe the men had lost their nerve and saved him the trouble of having to go out of his way for someone. His crew wandered out of the hotel and off toward the docks, laughing and talking. The number of people leaving had slowed to a trickle and soon the street was bare once more. Jayne took a deep breath. He hadn't had to come to some helpless female's rescue in a good while-not since before Serenity and even before the two crews before that. Jayne frowned at the memory. Why was it always the coregirls what needed rescuing? Did they teach 'em Damsel in Distress 101 at them pricey finishin' schools he heard they went to? He heard a commotion on the side of the hotel and leaned forward. The three men burst forth from the side alley, one of them carrying a limp body in his arms.

"Get in, hurry up, Remy," James hissed, glancing around fearfully as they piled into a tiny wagon. He whipped the horse into a frenzied trot. Remy snorted and settled back. "Relax, she ain't gonna wake up any time soon an' even if she did, there ain't nobody 'round to save her."

James slowed the horse some and Jayne backed down behind the shop to the Alley that ran parallel, making sure to catch sight of them each time he came to a connecting intersection. Them drugging her actually worked to his advantage. If they had enough left on them, he could use it on them to make a clean getaway with her.

"Ain't nobody gonna be lookin' for her 'sides that stupid brother of hers an' nobody really got a good look at her aside from us an' cause we was really lookin'."

They stopped off at an overly large house just outside of the town and continued on foot. The largest of the three men, threw her over his shoulder as they gathered three large bags out of the wagon and headed off into the direction of the woods.

The only thing Jayne really new about Heinlein besides it bein' one of the more civilized rim planets, was that the woods stretched on for miles and that it weren't just woods. Sometimes it was jungle, sometimes it was grasslands, sometimes it was mountainous terrain plagued by blizzards and avalanches. You didn't go into them woods, less you had to. Which made it the perfect place to get away with what them boys was plannin' on gettin' away with. He doubted they would venture too far into the woods.

They settled about a mile in. Remy frowned over at her. "She ain't awake yet." He glared at his friend. "How much you give her, Walt?"

"I wanted to make sure she stayed out-you want her wakin' up an lettin' the whole town know who's behind this?" Walt slumped back against a tree by the fire and pulled his hat down over his head. "Let's just get some sleep. With the amount I gave her she ain't comin' to for a bit."

The others grunted into agreement and hunkered down. Jayne took the opportunity to creep forward and rummaged silently through the first bag he found, darting a glance up at the sleeping men every now and then. He grinned to himself in relief when he extracted four vials and a syringe from the filled the syringe all the way-if he killed any of these men, he'd be doing the 'verse a service and clamped his hand down over the first man'a mouth and injected the full contents into his neck. His eyes rolled back in his head and he went instantly limp. Jayne raised an eyebrow. That was some high class knock out drug, which mean it must have cost a bunch, which meant them boys either had a lot of money or they had stolen it. Jayne repeated the process twice more and waited a minute to see if any of them awoke. When they remained unmoving he crouched down next to the girl. She was wearing some fancy white nightgown that he supposed was supposed to look plain. She was breathing in and out evenly, her dark hair covering her face so that all he could make out were her pink lips slightly parted in sleep. _No wonder they'd been hot for her_, Jayne thought to himself as his eyes immediately traveled down to her bare legs, _she's awful cute_. He scowled at himself and shook his head before shaking her shoulder. "Hey," he hissed. When all she did was roll away limply, he hauled her into his arms and shook her a bit more roughly, "Gorramnit girl, wake up!"

She let out a soft moan and pulled her head up to look at him with wide eyes, blinking in surprise. Jayne took her chin in hand and tilted her head back to look at her neck where he figured they'd stuck her. "You okay?"

She stared around them in confusion. "What-" her eyes fell on one of them men, "he..." she held up on hand and pointed to her neck. She turned back to him with her wide, brown eyes, staring at him as if he'd hung the moon. "You came to rescue me."

He rolled his eyes and stood. "Yeah, yeah, you can thank me later, Miss...whoever you are-let's just go-"

She shook her head. "They'll find me if I go back."

"Well, look, I crew a ship and you can say on board till morning an' whatnot if it'll make you feel safer-"

"They're the sons of a parliament member's cousin, and he's governor of this planet," she whispered desperately, "and I know who they are."

Her eyes became sad. "And now, so do you."

That did make things a lot uglier than he'd hoped. "Means you gotta stay hid and hidin' you on ship with me ain't gonna do a bit of good."

She shook her head in agreement. Jayne frowned and ran his eyes over her again. "We get caught in a blizzard, yer gonna freeze ta death."

* * *

Mal blinked in surprise when he found Inara sitting at the mess table alone. Usually Jayne was already there, eating his third plate of protein. Mal made a face and Inara shrugged. "Probably still at the whorehouse."

"Ciudad de la Paz ain't got a whorehouse," Mal replied, even more confused. "He say that was where he was going?"

Inara set down her teacup, frowning in confusion. "No, he didn't say. He just said he had to take care of something."

Mal clenched his jaw and turned back to the crew quarters. Inara jumped up and hurried after him. Mal kicked open the hatch to Jayne bunk and stuck his head in. "He ain't in here."

Inara felt herself flush with worry, and made a face of disgust. Mal brushed past her and kicked at Zoe's hatch. Zoe opened it quickly. "What is it, Sir?"

"Jayne ain't here and there ain't no whorehouses in Ciudad de la Paz."

"I'll be up in a minute, Sir."

Inside of five minutes, the entire crew was back at the hotel. "You know, I think Jayne can take care of himself," Wash chuckled, as they combed the bar. Mal frowned.

"Maybe he checked into a room," Book suggested. Kaylee smiled hopefully at the Shepard. "I bet that's what he did!"

They exited the bar and headed toward the concierge desk. There was a panicked young man in front of them. He slammed his hand down on the desk. "But she's gone!"

"Sir, you'll have to take this up with law enforcement. Possible kidnappings do not fall under hotel staff jurisdiction," the woman at the desk said calmly.

"It was a kidnapping, my sister would never run away, something happened!"

"Sir-"

"Yes, I know, law enforcement," he groaned, "but if my parents find out I've lost her when she's in my care...she's getting married in six months!"

"Sir, this is not the responsibility of the-"

"I know," he snapped, "did you at least see her within the past twelve hours? Or see anything suspicious?"

Kaylee tugged on Inara's arm and hissed, "That don't sound like it happened too long after Jayne left."

Inara's eyes widened and she nodded. Mal leaned in close to Kaylee, "You think he took her?"

Kaylee's face contorted in shock and anger. "Hell no, Cap'n, I think he may have knowed it was gonna happen an' gone ta stop it."

Mal considered her words for a moment before turning and tapping the young man on the shoulder. "Excuse me, Sir, we'd like to help you find your sister."

The young man's shoulders slumped in relief. "Oh, thank god."

He took hold of Mal's hand and shook it. "I'm Simon Tam."


	2. Heroes Get Cake

**I own nothing. Italics are past events.**

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_Jayne was beginning to hate himself. He'd finally gotten himself on a core planet and what was he doing? Working security for some rich kid's birthday. No pay was worth this humiliation...well okay, maybe this pay was. Jayne leaned up against the mansion, next to the back door. The birthday boy's sister slipped out the french doors, her arms full of brightly wrapped presents. She smiled up at him as she passed. She was the only one to acknowledge his presence. She glanced over at her mother before grabbing a champagne flute and handing it to him. The "hired help" wasn't to partake in any of the refreshments. Jayne tossed her a conspiratorial wink and down the contents, handing it back to her. She giggled and started back into the house. _

_Jayne let his eyes roam the crowd of guests with little interest. The only interesting one in the bunch was the sister because she's wasn't such a snob that she wouldn't sneak him some bubbly or a cookie every now and then. She had a nice giggle and she was a cute kid; he guessed she was fourteen maybe. She was gonna be a looker when she grew up and filled out. _

_Jayne shoved off of the wall. It was about time he walked the perimeter anyway. Ignoring the obnoxious and overly snooty laughter of the several of the guests he passed, he rounded the corner and stopped._

_"Come on, Riv, we just wanna talk to you," said a boy, fingering the girl's hair. She was pressed up against the side of the house, her eyes wide and scared. "They're about to cut the cake soon...Simon will come looking for me."_

_"River, we just want to talk to you," one boy insisted as the other four snickered. The boy moved in closer. "You're real cute, you know."_

_And then the boys hand started moving South and Jayne was seeing red. It was boys like that, that gave all the good ones a bad name. "Hey," he growled, causing them to jump. "What the hell d'you think yer doin'?"_

_"Just keep movin', this isn't any of your business," one of them sneered at him and the others laughed and they moved to tighten the circle around her. Jayne growled again and stalked forward. He grabbed the one that had been touchin' on her by the throat and tossed him aside. "Since her parents is payin' me to keep stuff like this from happenin', I think it is my business," he snarled and they scurried off. He looked down at her. She was crying softly and her bottom lip was trembling. He knelt down in front of her. "Hey, you okay," he asked in a voice so quiet it surprised him. She nodded furiously, keeping her eyes on the ground. Jayne frowned a little. "You sure? Want me to get your brother or you mom or whoever it is should be watching out for you. Or I could go beat up all them boys for ya if ya want."_

_"No, I'm okay," She looked up at him then, smiling she leaned forward quickly and kissed his cheek. "Thank you."_

_She hurried off then. Jayne rolled his eyes and rubbed at his cheek in annoyance. Just because he'd saved her and she was the nicest person he'd met since leavin' home over ten years ago didn't mean he wanted her kissin' on him even if it was as a thank you for savin' her. He paused, staring down into the giant fountain in front of the mansion and sat down on the edge. Someone cleared their throat behind him and he turned to find her standing with two plates in hand, both topped with two pieces of cake each. She handed him a plate and seated herself next to him. Jayne raised an eyebrow at her. "Thought you'd be off with some of them debutante girls."_

_She shrugged. "They think I'm weird," she said, nonchalantly, though she glanced at him out the corner of her eye._

_"Oh yeah, why's that? Is it cause yer prettier than they are an' they's jealous?"_

_She bit her lip and smiled, blushing slightly. "No, it's because I'm smarter than they are. I have the highest IQ on Osiris. Possibly in the 'verse."_

_"So, yer smart, big deal. Don't make you weird." _

_She smiled up at him thankfully and pulled her legs up against her chest. She stuck her hand out to him. "I'm River."_

_He shook her hand and nodded. "Jayne."_

_River smiled up at him. "I think you're the nicest person I've ever met...besides my brother."_

_Jayne snorted and took another bite of cake. "I ain't nice, girlie."_

_"You saved me," she argued._

_"Yeah, well yer the only person I've ever saved. I'm usually the person people need savin' from."_

_River tilted her head to the side. "Why?"_

_"I kill people."_

_"Oh," she said in a small voice. She finished off her first piece of cake slowly. "Jayne?"_

_"Yeah?"_

_"Why did you save me?"_

_"'Cause what were planin' on doin'....ain't right," He looked at her for a long minute before going back to his cake. "And you're the nicest person I ever met."_

_She beamed up at him and dug into her second piece of cake. Jayne smiled down at her and followed suit. Maybe corefolk weren't so bad after all. Especially if they was in the habit of giving you cake._

_

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_

Jayne groaned and rubbed a hand over his face as he sat up slowly. It was just before dawn and he had to get himself and the girl moving quick. He stuffed the blanket into one bag and stood up. He and the girl had dug through the men's belongings for anything of use. Jayne grimaced as he thought of all the things he'd found in one of the bags. Luckily, they'd found a lot of useful stuff in the largest of the bags and Jayne had grabbed what weapons they had on them. And then they had walked in silence for three hours until finally she couldn't take it and had nearly passed out. Jayne figured if he had been in her position, he'd have passed out too.

There was a soft yawn beside him and he turned to find her staring up at him. He blinked in suprise as he stared into her face, lit by the predawn light. He hadn't been able to get much of a look at her in the dark, but now that he could see her-he'd been right; she was a looker now. "You gave me cake," he muttered, dumbstruck. She smiled brilliantly at him. "Jayne!"

He blinked again. He hadn't expected her to remember his name. River's smiled her admiration up at him. "This is the second time you've saved me."

"You know, I told you once I'm usually the person people need savin' from, so don't go thinkin' I'm some knight in shining armor," he grumbled, moving away from her as quickly as possible. River shrugged and stood, folding up the blanket she had used. "Maybe you're only in the habit of saving me and you're my own personal knight in shining armor."

He snorted. "Right."

She handed him the blanket and he shoved it into the bag. He rubbed the back of his head and frowned. "So, nice seein' you again, I guess?"

River giggled and Jayne tried not to glare. That damn giggle was cute as hell. River glanced around. "Which way are we going?"

"Well, I know the cold's gonna be a bitch ta deal with, but it'll be our best bet for stayin' away from them an' keepin' ourselves from gettin' shot dead."

She bit her lip and nodded. Jayne jerked his head to the side. "Well let's get goin'."

Without needing to be told, River kept close to his side as they walked. She did a good job of keeping up for the mostpart, only needing to run to catch up every so she was busy staring up at a particularly twisty tree with big branches that she wanted to climb badly, she tripped over one of the roots, colliding with Jayne's back. He grunted in surprise and turned just in time to see her bounce off of him and fall back onto the ground, landing with a thud. She smiled up at him sheepishly. "I wasn't paying attention."

Jayne rolled his eyes, but couldn't keep the grin off his face as he helped her up. Keeping a firm grip on his hand even after she stood, she dusted herself off and tugged at her nightgown to get it back into place. Jayne loosened his grip on her hand as he began to walk again, hoping she got the hint that it was time for her to let go. Instead, she shocked the hell out of him by lacing her fingers through his. He looked down at her, intending to ask her what in the hell she thought she was playin' at hlding his hands like that, when she let go of her own accord and stopped to pick a flower. River held it up to her nose to smell it. "I've never smelled a Rock-rose before."

She twirled back around to him and held it out. "We must be nearing a Mediterranean climate."

Jayne just stared at it. River pulled it back and took up his hand in hers again and began to walk once more. Jayne followed for a moment before taking the lead and ignoring her decision to get some hand-holding in with him. He hoped Mal would find them soon...if Mal was even lookin' for him.

* * *

"But what were you doing here on Heinlein?"

Simon shifted uncomfortably. "My sister isn't exactly happy with the prospect of marrying."

"Oh, so it's arranged?" Wash frowned, "they still do that?"

"Well, what does that have to do with y'all bein' on this dumb rock?"

"My sister is very....she's a handful, inquisitive, spontaneous," Simon said with a smile, "she's always wanted to see the 'verse and she was afraid she would never get to once she's married. I thought maybe if I took her out on this trip, maybe it would be easier for her to accept this whole thing." A pained expression came to his face. "I'm not happy with my sister's having to marry someone she hardly knows and if I had any say in it, she wouldn't have to, but my parents were very adamant."

Kaylee patted his arm sympathetically. "That's awful. You must be the 'verse's best brother for lookin' out for her like that."

"My sister's always gotten into trouble-and not always from her own doing," he sighed, "I just hope she's alright."

"Son, I'm sure she's fine," Book assured him, "I'm sure she was able to get away from her captors and find some safety."

"Now, I'm thinkin' only safe place ta keep a troublesome girl-if she's a troublesome as you say she is-would be in them woods-"

"The woods," Inara cried, cutting off Mal, "do you have any idea how dangerous it is out there? Not only is the wildlife unpredictable, but so is the plantlife and the climate. "

"What's the matter? You worried Jayne can't handle a toruble-magnet of a girl and a few wildcats," Wash snorted, "I think if there's anything we need to worry about it's gonna be her innocence because Jayne-ow!"

Zoe's face remained neutral as her husband stared at her in shock, rubbing his chest where she had elbowed him. Kaylee and Inara both shot Wash a warning glare. Wash shot them an equally dirty galre and slumped in his chair.

"Well if they gone off in the woods, we best starts lookin' fer 'em," Mal sighed. He made aface, and scowled at his first mate. "How in the Gorramn hell are we supposed to land the boat in the woods?"

Zoe shrugged as they headed onto Serenity. Kaylee smiled up at Simon, who was sanding on the gangway with a lost and worried expression. "Don't worry, Cap'n won't stop lookin' 'till he finds 'er."

Simon nodded and smiled down at her, finally seeing her for the first time. She looked real pretty with grease all over her. Most girls didn't look pretty smudged. "Thank you, Kaylee."

Her smile grew and she nodded up the ramp. "You wanna see the engine room?"

"Sure." He smiled at her sunny expression. She was so happy and open with her emotions. The women in the core weren't like that. It was a nice change.

* * *

River and Jayne fell to their knees beside the creek, scooping large handfuls of water into their mouths. Jayne paused in his drinking to follow the path of the creek and sighed in relief. "It's coming from the way we're headed. Means we'll have fresh water."

They stood in unison and began walking again, only to come to the edge of what seemed to be a never ending Serengeti plain. They both blinked their bewilderment. Jayne made a face. "This is such a fuckin' weird planet."

At the splashing sounds of water, Jayne turned to find River kicking her feet in the water. River sighed. "They hurt."

Jayne crouched down next to her. "Lemme see 'em."

She swiveled and extended her leg out straight in the air toward him. Jayne gulped as he took in the line of silky smooth skin before him and forced himself to think of something not completely tempting. If he was ever gonna show Inara that he could be a good and decent individual, this was it-not sexing up the barely legal sexy damsel in distress with legs a mile long that his hands were just aching to touch was a good start. Without touching her he studied the sole of her tiny foot. There were a few scratches and bruises, but nothing serious. "I guess we can stop here for a while."

"Is it okay if I take a bath?"

"What?!" Jayne practically screamed, "No!"

"But I feel all dirty and sweaty."

Hell, he wanted a bath too, but he weren't gonna be splashin' through the same creek nekkid with her just a foot away. She raised an eyebrow and gave him a mischevious grin as she nudged his knee with her foot. "I promise not to look if you promise not to look."

He couldn't help grinning. "Fine. But we get nekkid and jump in at the same time. No peeking."

And as promised, River hadn't peeked. Jayne knew this because he had peeked. _But only to make sure she ain't peekin', _he told himself resolutely. And he'd almost groaned in agony at what he saw. All that skin was almost more than he could handle. He turned away quickly. If he didn't see it, it wasn't there and he wouldn't get in trouble for puttin' his hands in places they didn't belong but so desperately wanted to be. River turned away politely when Jayne finally emerged from the creek to dress, wringing out her long dark hair and humming to herself.

She did that a lot he noticed. She was always humming when they walked. River settled on top of a small rock as she combed her fingers through her hair and stared at the water absently. When she finally looked up at him, she smiled broadly. Jayne settled on the ground next to her rock and rolled his shoulders in an attempt to get the kinks out. He jumped slightly when he felt River's tiny hands on him and swallowed a protest when she began to rub.

"Do you think they'll find us soon?"

"Doubt it, not many people out there care about me," he mumbled. River made a face and for a moment Jayne thought maybe she was agreeing. "Why not," she asked, continuing to rub at him and Jayne felt his head loll againt her arm. "Don't know, just never have. I been lookin' after myself fer a long time so it don't really bother me much," he said, shrugging to cover up his lie. River pursed her lips and watched her hands intently. "It's nice knowing you have someone to depend on, though, don't you think," she asked softly. He shrugged again. "I'm too old to start trustin' people to help me when I need it."

River watched Jayne's words as they colored and began to merge with the ones in his mind. "Thank you for doing all this for me."

He shrugged at her again and River bit her lip. She rubbed his sore shoulders until they were knot free and stretched out on the rock. Jayne fell back into the tall grass and threw an arm over his eyes, yawning. River rolled onto her stomach and let her eyes drift over him. He was just as she remembered him; still so big and strong. She was right; he was her own personal knight in shining armor. And he was still so handsome. River wondered if she would still have been so adverse to marrying her fiance if it weren't for the persistent preoccupation she had had for Jayne ever since first meeting him. River yawned. The warmth from the sun was making her sleepy. She smiled down at Jayne's dozing form for a moment before her eyes drifted shut and she fell asleep. She awoke not long aftrwards when the air around her cooled. She sat up groggily and looked around. The afternoon sun had dimmed and turned into a sunset and the chill of night was slowly creeping in. River looked down to where Jayne was. His head was resting on the bag with the blankets in it and if she woke him, he'd get cranky. He was always cranky when he woke up.

River slipped off of the rock and settled in next to Jayne, making sure to keep her distance, but the body heat she could feel radiating off him was too much to bear and she slowly inched closer. River reached out and latched on to his arm. She blushed when he shifted to accommodate her closeness by moving his hand and dropping it down on her thigh, squeezing lightly.

She inhaled sharply and waited. Jayne's breathing evened out once more and River finally settled her head on his shoulder, smiling to herself when she felt him nuzzle the crown of her head. River yawned and closed her eyes.

* * *

Jayne's conscious mind was having trouble understanding who the soft skin he was rubbin' up on belonged to. He was having trouble trying to figure out who the body was curled up in his arms. Jayne groaned and shifted. His groan became more distressed when the firm little body flush against his cuddled back closer to him. Jayne mentally punched himself. He didn't have time ta be tryin' ta figure out who it was sleepin' with him. He needed ta figure out a way ta save himself and River while keepin' his Gorramn hands to himself so he could prove to Inara- His eyes snapped open and every muscle in his body went stiff. He'd touched her! He'd Gorramn touched her! Jayne rolled away hastily and clamber up onto his feet clumsily. He shifted from foot to foot as he tried to figure out what to do next. He nudged her with his foot gently. "C'mon River," he said in a strained voice, "We gotta get going."

He nudged her again and she moaned groggily before sitting up. Jayne hesitated and then held out his hand to help her up. She dusted herself off and yawned before smiling at him. Jayne opened his mouth to yell at her for cuddling up against him when his stomach let out a long growl. They both stared at his stomach in surprise.

"We need food," she frowned. She whipped around in a circle, brow knit in concentration. She bent down and picked up a long stick and then began picking through the grass.

"Uh, what'er you doin'?"

"I need a sharp rock," she replied absently, picking up a rock and then discarding it. Jayne raised an eyebrow. "Fer what?"

"To make a weapon."

"River we got guns, why do we need another weapon?"

"Guns are for security, this will be for hunting, fishing," she said as she came back with a sharp rock. She pulled the drawstring out of the bag and began to tie the rock to the end of the stick. "You have an overly large knife, correct?"

"Yeah."

"Good, you can use it to sharpen the end of another stick. This rock will not be as effective, but food sooner than later would be more appreciated."

Jayne just nodded and searched around him for a good stick. He cocked a grin at her. "Yer a quick thinker, ya know that?"

River began to blush as she continued to fuss with the rock. Jayne tilted his head to the side and watched her, wondering idly is she had blushed because she wasn't used to compliments or because it'd been him who complimented her. She gave him a shy smile as thanks and Jayne felt a funny pang in his chest. Her blush deepened and she turned away quickly, standing at the creek's edge.

"You ever done that before?"

"No."

"Then how d'you expect ta get anything?"

"Exceptional aim." She kept her eyes trained on the water, following the movementf each ripple and the fish swimming under them. "And my knowledge of the deceptiveness that is light refraction."

Jayne let his eyes settle on her firm little backside, figuring it didn't hurt to look and it wasn't like she would know. Plus, her sayin' all them big words was turnin' him on somethin' fierce, which was odd. Usually, when Inara used big words on him, she just sounded snooty and bitchy, like maybe she was doing it to show him how much better she was than he was. But when River said them it was like she didn't even realize they might be too big for someone to understand and it was just the way she talked. She'd kinda talked that way the first time he'd met her too, only she'd been embarassed about it then. It was cute that she knew all them big words and used 'em because she could and should and not because she was tryin' ta make herself look good. She stabbed into the water quickly, bringing up an empty spear with no rock attached to the tip. She glared at it. "Damn it."

Man, she was even cuter when she cursed. River perked up as she stared at the tip of her now splintered spear and ripped away part of the splintered end. It was sharp now. She looked up at him. "Are you done?"

"Yeah," he said with a nod. She jerked her head in the direction of the creek, "Come on then. I expect you to have caught me a fish by the time we're done."

"That so," he teased back. He kicked off his boots and socks and took a couple steps into the water. At the first sight of a fish, Jayne stabbed, surprised when he hit nothing but creek bottom. "Huh, I hit it dead center."

"That's why you missed, look," River said, dipping her spear into the water at an angle. "See how it looks like the spear's broken right where it hits the water?"

"Yeah?"

"Light refraction. You have to aim a little bit to the left." River stabbed at a fish. It wriggled free of the spear. "Cao!"

She threw Jayne a wry grin. "I guess my aim isn't all that exceptional afterall."

Jayne chuckled and stabbed at his own fish, pulling up the spear. River clapped her hands together. "You got one!"

"Holy shit, I sure did!"

River squealed. "It's a big one, too."

"Good thing 'cause I'd like ta eat fast an' get going," Jayne replied and she nodded. Jayne slapped the fish down on a rock and pulled out his knife and began to gut the fish. River watched curiously. Jayne gave her a questioning look and she shrugged. "I've never seen someone clean a fish before."

"Really, yer Dad never gone fishin' 'er nothin'?"

"Gabriel Tam, catch and prepare his own food," she snorted, "please. The only thing that man ever does is make money."

"Nothin' wrong wth making money," Jayne said as he turned back to the task at hand, laughing at her dismissal of her father.

"Sometimes there's something wrong with the way you make it," she said softly and Jayne looked up at her, pausing. "He do something bad?"

"In a way, but it's not something we really need to worry on now," she said in that same soft voice that sounded sad and he thought for a minute she was gonna start cryin'. Jayne wondered if her Dad had done something to hurt her. He almost hugged her to make her feel better. Almost.


	3. Apples and Telekinesis

**I own nothing.**

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River's eyes shot open when she felt a large hand clamp over her mouth, pulling her close to an equally large body that rolled her under the roots of a tree where the creek had worn out the earth beneath it into a fairly protruding overhang. Her eyes widened further when she heard the sound of something lurching toward her and the waning light from the moon lessened. Whoever had grabbed her was on top of her, crushing her into the damp mud and moss below.

"I ain't hurtin' you am I," Jayne whispered. Jayne felt River relax below him and then shake her head. He pulled at the log one more time and hoped it was big enough to hide them in the ditch he'd rolled them into. "Gotta be quiet, Girl, they're comin'."

River's body tensed again and she wrapped her arms and legs around him, shutting her eyes as she burrowed her face into the crook of his neck. Jayne felt her flinch at the sound of three pairs of boots crunching in the dirt along the bank of the creek. He funneled his hands through her dark hair and rubbed the back of her neck gently to comfort her. Instead of loosening her grip like he'd expected, River tightened it. He felt her tiny hands fist the collar of his shirt and her hot tears on his neck as she continued to shiver.

"We shoulda come up on 'er by now," Remy said, "where the hell'd she go?"

"Remy, we don't find her, we got ourselves in a big heap a trouble."

"No shit, why'd'you think we're even lookin' for 'er in the first place? Shits'n'giggles? If it wasn't gonna land us in so much trouble it wouldn't matter."

"Well, if she's dead, there ain't no point in us lookin'."

Remy growled. "If she's dead, I wanna see the body so's I can make sure she is an' ain't gonna go runnin' her mouth about us!"

"Hey, Rem, calm down..."

Jayne listened as their words faded along with the sounds of their footsteps up the creekbank. He rubbed his hand over her arm. "It's okay, River, they're gone."

She shook her head and whispered shakily, "They're gonna come back. They'll come back and they'll take me and they'll..._do things._"

"Hey," Jayne said, pulling away, "look at me."

Rive reluctantly loosened her arms from around his neck to look up at him as the tears rolled out the corners of her eyes. Jayne wiped at them. "I ain't gonna let anythin' happen to you, okay? I promise. So long as yer with me, you don't gotta worry 'bout anybody hurtin' you, dong ma?"

River bit her lip and nodded, sniffling. "Okay."

Then she was wrapping her arms back around his neck tightly. Jayne shifted on his arms to get comfortable. It was obvious she wasn't going to be untangling herself from him any time soon and while her being so close to him was uncomfortable, knowing how scared she was made it impossible for him to get up the courage to yell at her for being so clingy. After a half hour of remaining motionless though, his arms began to cramp and he couldn't take it any longer.

"River," he whispered, "could you maybe let go of me for a minute so's I can move around an' get comfortable?"

River slowly unwound her limbs from around him and Jayne shoved at the log to give them a bit more room. He turned back to River and his breath caught in his throat. The light from the moon illuminated her pale skin, reflecting in her eyes and off her silky hair that flared out around her. He could remember ever seein' a woman looking so pretty. Before he could stop himself, he was running his thumb over her bottom lip, tracing the outline of her mouth. He pulled his hand away from her slowly and fell onto his back heavily, confused and unsure of himself. River laid herself out on top of him, bracing her legs on either of him and resting her hands on his shoulders. Jayne sighed and wrapped his arms around her and began to rub circles in her back until her felt her body go lax and her breathing even out. Jayne stared up at the exposed tangle of roots above him and sighed, "What are you doin' to me, Girl?"

* * *

"So what's your sister like?" Kaylee asked as they sat at the mess table. Wash was having a hard time trying to find a large enough expanse of open land in the woods where he could easily land Serenity and Simon was slowly becoming impatient. Kaylee had decided the best way to distract him would be to talk about the sister he clearly loved so much. Simon's eyes lit up and she knew her plan had worked. "Would you like to see a capture?"

Kaylee nodded and he excused himself, coming back with several. When Kaylee raised an eyebrow, he blushed. "They're all from our trip so far."  
He hand them over to Kaylee and pointed at the first one. "That's on St. Albans. She insisted on having a snowball fight. We weren't really allowed to play in the snow all that much when we were younger on Osiris."

Kaylee took in the girl's smiling, laughing face and found herself smiling back. She watched as River twirled under the flurry of snow, laughing at Simon as he chucked snowballs at her absently. "Oh, Simon, she's so pretty!"

"Who is," Inara asked as she passed through the mess on the way toward her shuttle. Mal, who had been coming to the mess from the bridge for a cup of coffee, leaned over Kaylee's shoulder and let out a low whistle. "That is one good lookin' sister ya got, Doc."  
Kaylee passed the capture to Mal as she moved on to the next one. "It's a good thing Jayne found her. He'll take good care of her."

"You don't know for certain that Jayne found her," Inara said as she snatched up one of the pictures to look at the girl. She was very pretty. Kaylee shot Inara an 'I'm tryin' ta comfort the guy' look and continued, "I mean if there's anyone you want makin' sure yer sister'll be back safe an' sound, it's Jayne. "

Kaylee shot Inara a more curious look and Inara averted her gaze, glaring at the table in front of her.

"Yes, well I'm glad to hear she's in good hands," Simon agreed.

"Very good hands some would say," Wash chortled as he bounced into the mess, followed by his wife, who promptly pinched the inside of his arm.

"Oww," he hissed, "what?"

"No wisecracks in front of the Doc, Husband," Zoe teased. Wash shot her a half-hearted glare. "I couldn't help it. It was right there! You have to admit it was a good one."

"I don't have to admit to anything," Zoe laughed as she picked up one of the captures spread out on the table. "Oh my."

She looked up at Simon. "This her, Doc?"

Simon nodded and Wash moved to look over her shoulder. He let out a low whistle like Mal. "No wonder Jayne decided to play the hero this time around!"

"Yeah," Mal said, then stuttered out, "I mean, I think all men aspire to one day save a pretty lady just so's they can say they done her-I mean it-saved her that is."

Zoe raised an eyebrow at her embarrassed Captain and Wash, who's face was slowly turning an interesting shade of purple as he laughed hysterically. Mal glanced quickly around the room. "I'm gonna go do some Captainy things over on the bridge."

He turned back to them from the doorway. "Simon I'm sure your sister is just fine an' dandy an' Jayne is takin' care of her an' when she comes back she'll be all..."

"Sir, just go," Zoe sighed. Mal nodded. "Right."

Simon made a face. "Your Captain is fairly..."

"Odd," Inara finished for him and he nodded. "Yes."

Wash gasped for air and pointed in the direction Mal had headed. "I'm gonna go make fun of him."

"Don't be too hard on him, Honey," Zoe called after him, "he might try to break one of your dinosaurs if you pick at him too hard."

* * *

"I still don't understand why it had to be you who had to climb the Gorramn tree," Jayne yelled up at River with a scowl as he held out the blanket. In answer, three large apples bounced down at him. He caught a glimpse of her tiny foot poking out high up above him. "It's dangerous for you ta be wigglin' 'round up there like a damn monkey!"

Her foot disappeard only to be replaced by her face. "Are you worried I'll fall?"

"What? No," he glared at her, shifting his eyes away, "just there would be no reason fer me to a saved yer scrawny ass if yer just gonna fall outta a tree an' bust yer head wide open."

Four more apples dropped from the tree into the blanket and he watched as she carefully and slowly slid down the tree. Once she reached the base of the trunk, she pulled away and straightened out her gown. "You don't mean that."

"Hell yeah, I do. You got me in a right fine mess here, Riv," he snapped and she looked up finally, an eyebrow raised in amusement. "I wasn't talking about you having wasted effort saving me. That you meant."

Jayne glowered his confusion at her. "Oh, really, so what didn't I mean that I said?"

River smiled at him smugly as she plucked an apple out of the blanket, rubbed it clean on her nightgown and tossed it up in the air, catching it. She took a bite out of it and walked off. "You'll figure it out."

Jayne rolled his eyes and shook his head as he followed her over to the edge of the creek they had been following.

River packed up their things as she ate her apple, trying hard to ignore the curious way Jayne was staring at her. He'd been doing that a lot lately. Just staring at her, blankly. River had stopped trying to understand what he was thinking. No matter how much his thoughts revolved around her, they always came back to someone named Inara, who was more than River could hope to be. She could see this woman in his mind, how beautiful he thought she was, how graceful, sophisticated. It hurt. She knew it wasn't real, what he felt for this other woman, but it hurt nonetheless.

River pushed her hair out of her face and lapped up the line of juice that had trailed down her forearm. She turned to Jayne to ask him if he wished to continue to follow the creek, but paused. He was staring at her; mouth hanging open slightly with a glazed look in his eyes. She frowned. "What?"

"Nothin'," he mumbled, fixing another glare on his face. He picked up the bag she'd finished packing and slung it over his shoulder as he handed her the blanket full of apples. She took it from him, looking up at him questioningly as she tossed her apple core into the tall grass.

"Let's get going," he grumbled. River immediately latched on to his hand with her own. Jayne ignored how her holding his hand was starting to make his whole arm feel tingly and focused on the fact that it was sticky and it should feel gross even though it didn't.

An hour into their walk and they were finally at the foot of a large mountain range. They paused at the bottom, staring up hesitantly. River leaned into his side and asked without taking her eyes off the sight before her, "Do you think we can make it?"

"Don't know, but we have to try." He smiled down at her. "It don't look like there's much snow so, I think we oughta be alright."

He looked down at her bare legs. "Kinda worried about you catchin' cold though."

She beamed up at him. "I'll be fine. I promise."

Jayne nodded and they trudged on. River handed Jayne an apple and he raised an eyebrow at her. "How'd you know?"

She shrugged and looked down at her feet. "You looked hungry."

Jayne cut his eyes at her suspiciously. She'd been doin' that an awful lot-sensing what was goin' through his head. River ignored his insistent, prodding gaze and continued to walk on. Her abilities were something she had kept to herself-even Simon, who she trusted with many of her most private secrets. Jayne was the other secret she had kept from Simon.

"Oh, come on, Riv, how'd you know," Jayne asked, trying to get her to stop actin' nervously around him. He didn't like it when she got like that. It made him feel weird inside, like it hurt or somethin'. He bent down in front of her to catch her eye. "You read my mind 'er somethin'?"

River turned away from him and bagn walking at a quicker pace. Jayne's eyes widened at the implications. "You didn't!"

"Jayne drop it, please, I just knew," she pleaded, not bothering to turn around. Jayne's brow furrowed. "Can you always read my mind?"

Realizing he wasn't going to stop asking, she turned back around with a heavy sigh. "No, only sometimes. When you're thinking clear. Your thoughts are very muddled. You think too much sometimes. And about too many things." She worried her bottom lip and wrung her hands. "I don't mean to do it. I just can't help it. Sometimes, I think I can't hear anything and it stops for long periods of time and then it comes back."

Jayne just stared at her, his face neutral and River's shoulders sagged. "This is why I didn't want you to know. You'll think I'm weird and you'll leave me out here."

When Jayne only continued to stare at her, River let out a sad sigh. "Well, thank you for helping me get this far."

River turned her to him and started walking. Jayne grabbed her by the arm and spun her toward him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you're going to leave me aren't you," she asked, confused. Jayne stared down at her with equal amounts of confusion pooled in his own blue eyes. "Why would I do that?"

"Well," she answered tremulously, "I read you mind and though I didn't mean to, it's not necessarily something I should be doing and you're mad-"

"I'm not mad, just...I don't know." Jayne let go of her and rubbed the back of his head. "You know, this ain't exactly somethin' that happens to a man everyday."

River's eyes widen in shock. "You're not mad?"

Jayne shook his head. "If you didn't mean it, can't really fault you fer it, can I?"

River shook her head and stared down at the rocky ground. "No, I suppose not. It wouldn't be fair."

"That's right, it wouldn't be, Besides," Jayne said with a grin, "you think I'd really wanna be stuck out here by myself when I could be hangin' 'round a woman who always knows when I'm hungry an' can give me apples?"

Relief washed over River in tidal waves and she smiled her shyest smile. "I still say you're the nicest person I've ever met. Even if you do kill people."

Jayne's grin widened as he took her hand and they started walking again. "You only think that 'cause yer the only person I'm ever nice to."


	4. Subconscious Girl Association

**I own nothing.**

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It was late and Simon was having trouble sleeping. River had been missing for over a week and with every passing day, Simon's concern and worry for her increased, causing him to lose already much needed sleep. Wash had managed to find a large plain of tall grass to land in and while Mal and Zoe had scoured every inch of the surrounding wood, they had found no evidence of either River or Jayne. Mal's conclusion had been only that if they had passed through, Jayne was doing his job by covering his and River's tracks and there was no reason to worry. Simon prayed the Captain was correct. Only Simon wasn't the only one who found little reassurance in his words.

Simon had begun to notice something in the companion, Inara, that he believed suggested she was coming to terms with some emtion towards the missing mercenary that she was fighting desperately: affection. Whenever he was mentioned, worry would flicker across her fine features before immediately being replaced with indifference and whenever his sister was mentioned, Inara's voice contained a hint of resentment. It was because of this, Simon kept his distance from her.

However, lying in the small bed in the passenger dorms, Simon needed a much needed distraction and counting the ceiling tiles was fast becoming tiresome and provided no distraction. When he reached the mess, Inara was sitting at the table, sipping daintily from a cup of tea as she stared across from where she sat to a large, crudely carved name that read simply "Jayne Cobb". Simon stood next to the table, waiting for Inara to acknowledge his presence, but after several minutes of her gaze being continually transfixed by the carving in the tabletop, Simon ponted to the chair directly across from her and in front of the carving. "I'm guessing this is where he sat?"

Inara glanced up at him hurriedly and back at the name. "Oh, yes. Every night." Simon settled in the chair next to Jayne's and crossed his arms in front of him. "Is that where you usually sit?"

Inara shook her head. "I sit next to the Captain."

Simon nodded and they lapsed into silence. Simon chose to speak again, clearing his throat. "What I may be about to say may be very personal, but I have to ask. Where you and he...involved?"

"No," she answered quickly, "I would never involve myself with a man like Jayne. He's vulgar, selfish, uncaring, and unintelligent."

"Then why do you hate my sister?"

Inara was taken aback. "I don't. I've never even met your sister."

Simon nodded. "That's why I'm confused as to why you seem so bothered by anyone mentioning her. I can only conclude that it has to do with the possibility that she may be in the present company of Mr. Cobb."

Inara bit her lip, her composure slipping as she felt herself begin to analyze her behavior over the past week. "I don't know," she answered truthfully, suddenly feeling lost and confused, "I really don't know."

* * *

"I can't believe someone actually lived out here," Jayne growled out as he peered into the dirty window of the old cabin. River was standing a few feet from the delabidated cabin, her head tilted to the side as she stared up at the roof. It was beginning to cave in and there were places in the siding where the wood was rotted through. "I wonder how long they were here."

"I just wonder how they made it this far out without gettin' dead."

"We made it this far."

Jayne glanced at her over his shoulder as he pushed the front door open, eliciting a loud creak. "Yeah, but that's only 'cause I been in plenty situations like this."

"So, you're in the habit of rescuing helpless, mind-reading females?"

"Uh, no," he said with a roll of his eyes as he gestured for her to follow him inside, "I meant the having to fend for yourself an' live off the land type a situation."

He grinned at her. "An' yer the only woman I've rescued. Ever."

"I suppose that makes me special," she joked. Jayne rummaged through the cabin's strewn contents. "Sure does, Darlin'," he replied, as he pulled open a cabinet, only to have it come unhinged and clatter to the ground. River blushed down at the dust covered, wooden floor. An overly large dust bunny wafted past her foot and under a chair with bot back legs broken off. The front left one had rotted through. River turned in a slow circle, letting her eyes wander over every inch of the deserted cabin. "This place seems so sad. Lonely."

Jayne looked up at her as he shoved a couple of forks and spoons into the bag. "Lonely?"

"Nobody here. Such a secluded place. Lonely. Sadness." River wrapped her arms around herself. "It's depressing here."

"Well, we ain't stayin', Jayne said as he walked past her toward the other side of the small dwelling, rubbing her arm in a comforting was. "Gotta keep moving."

"Jayne," River called out softly as she nudged the broken chair. "Are you ever lonely?"

Jayne paused and turned slowly to look at her. "What do you mean?"

"You're a question asker, not an answer giver." She met his gaze, eyes big and soulful. "You always ask me questions about me, but never talk about yourself. Sometimes, I wonder if that means nobody ever asks you anything about who you are or where you're from."

Jayne just stared at her. He was getting that funny feeling in his chest again, only it was ten times worse than normal. River unwrapped one arm from around herself and crouched down next to the chair, running her hand over the worn wood. "Nobody ever asks me anything either."

Jayne followed her gaze to the chair for a moment. "River."

She looked up into his intense stare. Jayne's voice was gravelly and low, "What do you want to know?"

River stood slowly and went to stand before him. Her voice was just as soft and quiet as his when she answered. "Whatever you're willing to tell me."

* * *

Simon sifted through the smallest bag in the large pink set of suitcases that belonged to his sister, smiling as he pulled out a pair of well-worn ballet slippers. River took them on every trip, despite the fact that she was never able to use them. She said it was because she felt lost without them. The next item he pulled out was an overly large teddy bear that their father had gotten her for her birthday to replace the one she had had since birth that one of the maids had accidentally destroyed in the wash. He smiled down at it. "I don't even know your name," he whispered to the bear before setting it on his bed. He pulled out a sketch pad and then a set of charcoals. Just as he was about to open the sketchpad, he spotted something blue poking out from under one of River's yellow cashmere cardigans and pulled it out. His eyes widened. It was a diary. He hadn't even known she kept one. Simon sarted to place it nex to her ballet slippers and paused. If he never saw her again, maybe knowing what was contained within would lessen the pain some. He slowly opened it to the first page. The first entry was written the day of his eighteenth birthday. He could hardly remember anything about that night aside from the marked change in his sister's behavior. From that day on, she stopped giggling over the boys at school-forgot them completely. He had always found it odd that River never fell prey to schoolgirl crushes. Simon was about to shut the diary, after telling himself it was wrong to read something so personal, when the first line the entry caught his immediate attention.

_Dear Diary,_

_Today, I met the man of my dreams and he saved my life._

Simon let his eyes skim over the entry briefly before he heard himself call out "Captain Reynolds" and found himself standing the mess surrounded by the crew in entirety, all staring at him worriedly. He held up River's diary and spared Inara a sympathetic glance, which she returned curiously before saying, "I, um, you wouldn't happen to have ever heard Jayne mention River, would you?"

"They know each other," Inara stuttered out. Mal gaped. "How in the 'verse would a man like Jayne Cobb ever get to rub elbows with a coregirl like yer sister-not including the current circumstances?"

Simon stared down at the blue book and ran his hand over the cover, opening it to the first page and began to read, River's voice filling his head as if she were reading from the diary aloud herself.

"_Dear Diary,_

_Today, I met the man of my dreams and he saved my life. I feel as though today it was my birthday instead of Simon's. Mother and Father had hired security for Simon's party, something that I at first thought unnecessary and I could tell by the look on one the guard's faces that he felt the same. Everybody kept ignoring him even though he was doing them a service by simply being there to ensure their safety. It has always been my belief that one should not only be paid in money for such services that are a necessity, but also in respect and, above all, kindness. However, nobody seems to share this sentiment. I decided the best way to show my gratitude was to go against Mother's wishes and give him several cookies and a glass of champagne. In return, I was given the most handsome smile I have ever recieved and a wink. _

_The best part, was also the worst. Louise Talbot, who is considered the pink of perfection by all at school, decided to take it upon herself to bring to light how odd I am for being more learned in Quatum Physics than simple ettiquette after seeing me give the guard a cookie. How is being kind and considerate not correct ettiquette? When I asked her this, she smiply laughed and then they were all laughing-laughing at me for being nice to someone. I decided it would be in my best interest to go for a walk around the grounds so as to clear my head to keep from possibly knocking Louise unconscious with an hors'doerves platter. This was not in my best interest as several boys who are in my brother's class followed me. One of them-"_

Simon paused to clear his throat. The room was silent as he continued.

_One of them pushed me up against the side of the house, saying they only wished to talk to me, but I knew what they wanted to do. I told them Simon would come because Simon always comes when I'm in trouble and he always manages to save me, but they only laughed and moved closer. He was touching my hair, telling me I'm cute in this way that made my skin crawl and wish to God I was as homely as an old spinster. When his hand started moving all I could do was cry. _

_Simon didn't save me, my knight in shining armor did. He tossed that boy clear across the yard and asked me if I was okay. When I finally looked at him-as I had shut my eyes to keep from seeing what the boys were going to do-he looked so worried, so scared for me and as thanks I gave him a kiss on the cheek. However, a lowly kiss on the cheek is not proper payment for having one's life saved and as such circumstances prevented me from announcing that my life and innocence had been rescued would have ruined my precious brother's birthday, I decided the best payment would be cake._

_I found him by the fountain in front of the house, sitting quietly. When I handed him his plate and sat beside him and he asked me why I was there, I told him. Everyone, save my brother, thinks I am strange. The girls hate me because I am smarter than them, because I know more than them, because I would rather be studying astronomy than dressing up and going to fancy balls. His immediate conclusion surprised me. He assumed it was because I am prettier than them and they are jealous. Only my family has ever told me I am pretty and to hear it from him was the most wonderful compliment I could ever receive. When I told him how smart I am, he didn't bat an eye. Instead, he said that it wasn't a big deal; being smart didn't make you weird. _

_His name is Jayne and he thinks I'm the nicest person he's ever met. He told me so, and I think he's the nicest person I've ever met besides Simon-even if he does kill people. Jayne that is. I don't know how long we sat there, but he listened to me talk and he didn't mind when I used big words. Most people get angry when I use words they don't understand, but Jayne thinks it's cute. He didn't tell me he thinks this. I know this the same way I know his last name is Cobb and his middle name is Arthur. I know these things somehow and I think, that were I to tell him, he wouldn't think I was weird at all. Still, I didn't tell him because I'm afraid of the possible rejection. It would have hurt so very much for him to become angry with me and possibly view me in the same light as everyone else. Simon cares for me because he is my brother. His love is biased. But Jayne cared even after he was given the ability to judge me with prejudice. _

_When he asked why I don't have a boyfriend after I told him I don't, I lied and told him it's because they're all idiots. But now I know the truth. It's because I've been waiting for him. When I asked him why he doesn't have a girlfriend, he said he doesn't know any women worth the trouble. There was something sad, lonely in his voice when he said it that matched my voice when I said I was unattached as well. We're outcasts; from different worlds with parallel existences that I hope will one day break the conventions of geometry and converge. I wish this not only because of how nice he is, but because I can hear in my mind what he wishes-whether he realizes it or not, he wishes for it, too. He wishes I were older or at the very least that he could meet someone who remotely resembles me. A woman with dark flowing hair who's graceful, intelligent, and most importantly, likes him for who he is. It makes him feel good to know I would rather spend my night talking with him than spending it with people who have money. _

_I think I love him. No, I know I do. I love the way he says my name. Even when his voice drips sweet with sincerity, it's still a low growl that rumbles in my ears and makes me shiver. I love that he gets my strange jokes and doesn't speak to me as if I'm a child merely because I'm younger than him. I love that he isn't intimidated by my intelligence and I love that he looks at me with respect and that he is admittedly nice to me and only me. _

_I realize, despite my young age and inherent immaturity, that it is more than highly improbable that I will ever see Jayne Cobb again, but I cannot help hoping I will because there are so few men such as he and having been given the blessed opportunity to meet him, it makes me feel as though some force outside the realm of science has put into motion events that will bring about change in the lives of all I know."_

Simon finally let his eyes roam over the assembled crew, who were staring at various points in thr room in various degrees of shock and sadness. Kaylee had tears shimmering in her eyes as she stared down at Jayne's name carved into the table. "We've always been so hard on 'im. Thought he was such a..." Kaylee sniffed and ran her hand over the carving. "Think maybe when he gets back we oughta take special care ta show 'im he ain't as bad we let 'im think."

Kaylee's vision blurred slightly. "If he wants ta come back. We're awful hard on him."

"Aw, Li'l Kaylee," Mal soothed, kissing the top of her head, "he'll be back. Yer the one who's nicest to'im."

She shook her head. "No, that'd be River," she whispered. She set her gaze on Inara and something clicked visibly in her stare as she watched the companion in awe. Inara suddenly felt very off kilter as everyone followed Kaylee's gaze and there was something clicking suddenly in each individual's mind. Inara seated herself as she asked in what she hoped was a calm and composed voice. "What is it?"

"You're River," Kaylee said in an amazed voice.


	5. Chest Pain The Good Kind

**I own nothing.**

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River had been wrong. She hadn't realized that the weather with in the woods of Heilein was so extreme and abrupt. Neither had Jayne. They were both chattering and frozen within minutes of the blizzard beginning. Luckily, they had found a cave obscured by a large snow drift in the rocky crags not far below the mountain's peak. Jayne had said they would stay until the blizzard blew over. They were both exhausted from their fast pace and the battle they had fought against the freezing elements to get thus far. It hadn't taken long for Jayne to get a fire started and it had taken even less time for River to pull the blankets and bedding from the large bag and arrange it close to the fire. The two huddle close together without touching as they sat as close to the fire as possible without burning themselves. Jayne was worried at how much trouble he was having breathing. The cold air slammed into the back of his throat like a fist hitting an already battered and bruised jaw and he could tell by the shallow, uneven breaths River was taking that she was having a hard time of it as well.

"Altitude," she supplied with a slight heave of her breathing, "not enough oxygen. Couple that with the cold. We're taking in much less air than we should be. It would be in our best interest to sleep."

Jayne glowered into the fire. "I'm too cold to sleep."

"Me too," she chattered out, wiggling around in her blanket. While the snow drift at the caves entrance helped to keep out much of the freezing wind that twisted around the mountain, the smallish cave was still cold-the type of cold that chilled one to the bone.

"You know what I could go for right now," Jayne said, his voice jumping with each full body shiver he gave, "a nice hot bath."

He frowned in after thought. "Sa'cold, I prolly wouldn't even know the water was hot."

"I agree," River mumbled, wiggling closer to him to try and steal some of his body heat for her own. "So cold," she moaned out. Jayne opened his arms and pulled her to him, wrapping her up. River convulsed against him as a full body shiver caused her to shudder violently. River wound her arms and her blanket around his abdomen, still shuddering and nuzzled his chest with her numb lips. "Friction creates much needed heat, Jayne. We need to move to increase blood flow."

Following her instructions, Jayne rocked back and forth slowly, rubbing his hands up and down her back gently. River's hands moved to his sides as she rubbed slowly. After a few minutes, feeling began to return to Jayne's arms and legs and the only cold seeping into him was from the woman in his arms. River was still shivering violently and her normally pink lips had a slightly purple tint to them. Jayne unwound one arm from around her and pulled her chin up. It felt as though he were laying his hands upon a glacier.

"Gorramn, you're freezin', River," he bit out, crushing against him, wrapping himself around her to offer what heat he could.

River nodded jerkily against him, "I'm so cold. I can't-can't feel any-anything," she stuttered out. Jayne cursed under his breath, letting himself focus for a split-second on how bad of an idea he had just had until she shook her head. "G-good ideeaa...cl-clothes t-trap heat. No peeking, I p-p-promissse."

Jayne broke away from her for a moment to whip his shirt over his head. He hissed when the cold air his bare skin. He moved away from River, who was fumbling under the blankets to remove her nightgown. He gritted his teeth as he shucked his pants quickly. "Leave yer unders on."

River nodded and then a purple blush rose in her cheeks. "J-Jayne, can't move...fingers aren't working."

Jayne hastily pulled the blankets of her and gingerly yanked her nightgown over her head, careful not to look at her now exposed skin. He threw her gown on his own pile of discarded clothing and yanked her against him and then adjusted both blankets around them. "S'at better?"

She nodded against him, burying her face in his neck. It was so warm. She hummed as she felt the warmth slowly begin to creep into her body. More. River needed more. She wrapped her arms and legs more tightly around him, rubbing her whole body against him for warmth. She felt Jayne tense, his upper body become stiff as he froze in her embrace. She worried for a moment that he might push her away, but he never stopped holding her. When he tightened his grip on her, she let out a small sigh and then relaxed further when she felt him slowly begin to rub her back and shoulder. River stifled a yawn and nuzzled closer. "I'm getting sleepy. You're very warm."

"Yeah." River looked up into his face at the sound of strain in his voice, but couldn't focus; her eyelids were so heavy. She let her head drop back on his shoulder and yawned again. Jayne gently fell onto his back as River's legs unwound from around his waist and he shifted her in his arms to get comfortable. River let out a humming sigh and let her fingertips trail over his arms languidly. Jayne's entire body went lax below her and his breathing began to even out. His chest rumbled. "That feels nice."

"Mhmm," she hummed into his shoulder, Jayne's chest rumbled again as he began to drift off and he turned his head towards her, burying his face in her long, soft hair.

Jayne didn't sleep long because soon he felt cold and he rolled to the side, rubbing his eyes with the heel off one hand. It was darker in the cave than he remembered and it took him a moment to realize the fire had died down quite a bit. "Sonofabitch," he hissed, grabbing up a stick to poke at it and stir up the embers. He threw a log into it and sighed with relief when the dried wood caught fire. He rubbed at his cold chest and turned back to lay down when his eyes landed on River's shivering form, huddled under a blanket. Jayne pulled her to him and pulled the blankets around both their bodies tightly as he stared into her face.

_Man, is she ever beautiful,_ he thought to himself as he studied her face. Long tendrils of hair had fallen over her face and he gently pushed them away, relishing the feel of their silky smoothness between his fingers. He settled down, curled around her tiny body and watched the light from the fire flicker across her face in spontaneous patterns. He pictured Inara, only she didn't look as shiny to him as she had before. Inara was graceful, but River....she was grace. Inara looked gorgeous when she was all dolled up and ready go meet some client. Inara had that classy beauty that you felt if you mussed it up by touching it, it wouldn't look too good no more. Jayne let his eyes trail over her eyes and lips slowly. There wasn't a bit of makeup on her and she looked better than any woman he'd ever seen. And that genius brain of hers...Jayne knew everyone was intimidated by smarts, but he never had been. He coulda been that smart if he'd applied himself. His Ma could have sent him to a school for kids so smart they were bound to land themselves in cashy-money that would set them up for life, but he had never been able to see the point in it. He hadn't felt the need to learn all that. But River...River liked all that book smart stuff and she used big words in a way that made him want to know the same things she did instead of punch someone for acting so much better than him.

That was the best part about River; always had been the best part about her. A smart, knockout of a Coregirl who liked him despite him being a killer and a somewhat uneducated man. Despite knowing he didn't know near as much as she did about calculus-he couldn't even remember the fundamental theorem as he'd slept through that class mostly-she enjoyed her time with him. She laughed with him. She joked with him. In fact, she spent most of the time asking him about his life and he liked that, too. She wanted to know about him. She wanted to understand him.

Still, what kept him from coming any closer to her than he was was the way she looked at him. River looked at him as if he was anything and everything good in the 'verse. Even after he'd told her of all the lowdown terrible things he'd ever done, that look of complete and utter trust, of loyalty, or whatever else that other emotion he couldn't put his finger on was hadn't diminished. It had grown.

Jayne pulled her closer and looked down into her face. Jayne shut his eyes and sighed. No, not River. If he went there with River....it always ended badly when he involved himself with a woman who he wasn't paying. Inara was an excellent example. Jayne glared. What in the 'verse had he been thinking trying to tangle with her?! She was so rude to him. She liked Mal-any idiot could see that-and Mal was startin' to lean her way, too. He smirked. Good luck to Inara on gettin' into Mal's trousers. All Mal could think on was Serenity and the damn war. Served her right, being a bitch to him when he'd cared...had he cared? No. He hadn't really. Inara was beautiful and smart, but she didn't really have any respect for people who didn't act the way she expected them to, Mal being the only exception.

River sighed in her sleep, nuzzling his arm and he smiled. As he watched her cuddle closer to him, he couldn't help but wonder what would happen once they were found. Sure, she'd go back to her folks and her brother, but would she keep in contact with him? Or did she only pay so much attention to him because they were together by circumstance? It surprised Jayne how much the idea of that being true hurt him and his need for self-preservation caused him to roll away from her. Chances were, River didn't rightly care all that much about him-most people didn't. The fact that the whole idea bothered him so much was grating. Jayne glared off at the rock wall of the cave and willed himself to fall asleep. All he had to do was get her back to her family safe and he could forget about her and everything would go back to the way it was. He rolled over again to stare at her and found her eyes were wide open.

"You're angry," she whispered, shifting closer to him, "why are you so angry?"

"Why do you like me?" He winced. He hadn't meant to ask. She made a face, confused and appalled. "Why wouldn't I?"

He stared at her for a long moment, studying her face. The volume of honesty that shined through her eyes surprised him. She smiled, biting her lip. "Count yourself lucky, Jayne. I don't like too many people and I'm quickly beginning to like you best of all."

Jayne found his gaze drawn to her lips and the way she was biting down on the lower one gently, teasing it between her teeth. Realizing he was staring and his thoughts were getting less and less chivalrous by the second, his glance darted upward to find her eyes twinkling with amusement. "Jayne, do you want to kiss me?"

He scowled...tried to and growled out, "What's it to you?"

River glared back for only a second, before darting forward to peck him on the lips. Jayne's glare melted into a look of shock. "What'd you do that for?"

"Because you were never going to and I wanted to know what it was like."

Jayne growled and grabbed her, kissing her hard. "There. Now you know."

River fought the urge to smile as he scowled down at her, his expression stormy. River bit her lip to contain the laughter bubbling up in her throat and Jayne's scowl deepened.

"Gorramnit," he hissed before he jerked her to him and kissed her again. River's squeak of surprise quickly turned into a soft moan as she curled her arms around his neck.

The painful twinge in Jayne's chest was back and it was starting to feel real good. When he pulled away, River smiled and nuzzled his chin. "I feel it, too."

* * *

Mal and the rest of the crew stared at the open grassland in confusion. "But we just-"

"Yes, the terrain here is odd," Simon Tam agreed. Mal gave Simon a 'you think' look and headed forward, followed by Zoe. Simon watched them head off, duffels in hand and sighed. He started slightly when Kaylee patted him on the shoulder. "S'gonna be okay, Simon. They'll find'er an' Jayne an' everythin' will be just shiny."

Simon nodded slowly, his brow furrowed. "If it takes any longer, my father will get suspicious and I'll have to tell him River was kidnapped and that she is alone in the wilderness with a man."

He rubbed his hand over his face. "I know my father would never make it public knowledge, but if that got out..."

Kaylee stared up at Simon worriedly. "If what got out? What would happen?"

"If word got out on the Core that Simon's sister was in an isolated area with a grown man who she is not married to," Inara said as she exited the cargobay to come to stand with the pair, "it would be a scandal. Miss Tam's reputation would be ruined and her marriage would be called off."

Simon nodded sadly before bursting into a fit of inexplicable laughter. "River would be delighted."

Both women looked at him quizzically and his smile faltered some. "I'm not the only one against the marriage."

"You mean..." Kaylee forwned. "If she don't want to get married, then why is she gettin' married?"

"It was arranged."

Kaylee gasped. "That's awful!"

"You should have seen my sister when she found out." Simon frowned sadly at the memory. "She sobbed herself to sleep every night for a month."

"Well, then why is she havin' ta get married if she don't want to?" Kaylee asked. Inara placed a calming hand on thedistraught mechanic's shoulder. "Kaylee, arranged marriages still take place often in the Core. It's not as common as it once was, but it happens."

Kaylee shook her head sadly. "Still think it's awful. Gettin' married without lovin' someone don't seem right."

She looked up at Simon. "She even like the guy a smidge?"

Simon winced as he said slowly, "She's never met him."

"What," Kaylee exclaimed, "so she's just gonna go to the ceremony an' meet him there?"

Simon shrugged. "My father has been very tight-lipped on the subject. River has a way of finding her way out of situatons she isn't keen on being in. Any formal event she's been invited to, she has found a way out of."

"Well, no offense, but I hope she finds her way outta this one, too," Kaylee huffed, "a girl oughta be allowed ta choose who she wants ta be with. Money ain't nothin' if ya ain't happy. Now if she knowed an' loved him, well then it'd be a fairytale. Way I see it, the whole things shapin' up ta be a right fine tragedy."

"Well, prehaps she'll meet him and fall madly in love."

Kaylee shook her head at Inara. "No, bet he's marryin' her 'cause she's got money. That ain't a reason ta marry someone. Make him greedy an' untrustworthy in my opinion."

Inara arched an eyebrow. "Kaylee, what if he, too, were pushed into this union?"

Kaylee rolled her eyes. "Men can't be pushed inta doin' nothin'! When was the last time ya saw someone push the Cap'n 'er Jayne inta anythin'?"

Inara pursed her lips. Kaylee was right. Kaylee continued on, "Which means, he's in it fer money an'-" she turned to Simon, giving him an apologetic look, "free sex whenever he wants it!"

Simon blanched at the thought of his sister being forced into a loveless marriage involving...he shook his head. "I'm beginning to agree with Kaylee. Maybe I should try to do something about this."

Kaylee perked up and her eyes shined as she stared up at him. "Like what?"

"Well, I'm not sure right about now, but possibly, once River is back safely, we may be able to come up with a solution."

Kaylee squealed and clapped her hands, linking her arm with Simon's. "Shiny!"

Simon blushed. "Yes, it is."


	6. Something Entirely Different

**I own nothing.**

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River was hungry. They were both hungry. The blizzard had lasted longer than they hoped and plodding down the other side of the mountain had been just as time consuming. At the foot of the mountain, snow gave way abruptly to lush, green tropical foliage. It was as if some higher power had drawn a line to seperate the two areas. This area was teeming with life. Large, vibrantly colored flowers bloomed everywhere, birds twittered and cawed incessantly and leaves rustled nonstop. It was just as hot there as it had been cold on the mountain.

River watched as Jayne speared fish after fish as she started a small cooking fire. Jayne had pulled off his shirt not long after they entered the tropical forest and River had ripped off her nightgown's sleeves and the lower portion. Once she was certain the fire was going, she took out the eating utensils Jayne had taken from the abandoned cabin and crouched down beside the edge of the small pool to wash them.

"Think this is enough," Jayne asked, holding up a spear with five skewered fish. River nodded at them, "If we eat too much, we'll get sick."

Jayne tromped back to the fire and began to gut the fish. "You know, I don't think them bastards followed us."

"They think we're dead most likely," River replied as she scrubbed, "and they were worried they wouldn't survive if they tried either."

"Yeah, I'm surprised we even made it," Jayne snorted, "cut it kinda close there, ya know?"

River looked up over her shoulder at him and nodded. "Yes, we did."

There stared at one another for a long moment. Jayne looked back down at what he was doing and asked nonchalantly, "So, what are you going to do when you get back home?"

River didn't miss the tension that crept into his muscles as he awaited her answer. She sprawled out on the green carpet of flora below her and propped her chin up in her folded arms. "The same thing I always do. Go to social functions and pretend I enjoy them."

Jayne looked up in surprise. "You don't enjoy havin' all them people fawn over ya?"

"Of course not," River snorted, "people shouldn't feign interest in me simply because I have money."

Jayne merely nodded and River averted her gaze. After several minutes of silence, she finally said in soft voice, "I don't really want to go home."

Jayne kept his mouth shut. It was hard to forget what it had been like to kiss her when she said things like that. River seemed perfectly content with his refusal to answer as her curious brown eyes took in every minute detail of their surroundings. "It's nice here. Paradise."

"It's hotter'n hell!"

River rolled onto her back and stared up at the canopy above them. "What are you going to do when you go back home."

Jayne grunted his response. "Probably kill more people."

"Do you like your home?"

He blinked up at her, surprised, "Huh?"

"The people you live with. On the ship. Do you like being with them?"

"Already talked about this, Riv." He shrugged. "They think I'm dumb."

"But you're not!"

Her indignant cry caused him to jump. She was staring at him with wide, furious eyes. "You are very smart," she insisted, as if he were about to argue with her. He might have been inclined to if it weren't for that look. "You see things," she said, and turned back to look up at the tree tops, "like I do."

"What kind of things?" He was curious now. Everything that came out of River's mouth made him curious. She shrugged. "You can tell what people are really thinking by looking at them. You read bodies like I read minds." She looked over at them again. "I don't think you are dumb, Jayne. I could never think that."

"Oh, yeah?" Jayne asked, trying to ask in a joking manner though his voice was flat, "an' why's that?"

"Dumb people only hear what they want to, don't really listen. They only care about themselves."

Jayne let out a bark of bitter laughter. "Well, then I guess I'm the dumbest sonofabitch, you'll ever meet."

"You care," River said quietly, "you care about me."

"Yeah, well, only you," Jayne muttered tossing a rock into the nearby stream. "So what's that mean?"

River leaned up on her elbows, her gaze just as intense as his. The heat was suddenly more stifling than before and Jayne's head pounded unevenly to the thunderous beat of his heart. That now familiar ache was throbbing through his chest and River was looking at him in the same way he knew he was looking at her. She said she could feel it, too. He wanted to touch her, hold her hand or wrap his arms around her, but to do so now would mean things were so much more different than they had been when he had done so before.

"Means something entirely different," River said in a ragged, breathless voice. Jayne tore his eyes from hers and stared into the fire. "Yeah."

* * *

"I knew it was arranged, but I thought atleast yer sister was okay with it," Kaylee sighed. Simon nodded and leaned back in the deck chair. "I had hoped when I first heard about the arrangement. I even tried to talk my father out of it, but I couldn't sway him."

"Don't seem right for a parent to do that," Kaylee said in a tiny, sad voice. Simon didn't like that voice. He liked her bubbly, happy voice. The one that made him think of icecream and summer and what River had been like before the arranged marriage. "Zoe an' the Cap'n are back," Kaylee squealed, jackknifing out of her own deck chair and sheilding her eyes with one hand. Her shoulders slumped slightly as Simon jumped up beside her. "Do they have River with them?"

"Nuh-uh, must mean her an' Jayne have gone farther'n we all thought," Kaylee said, then patted Simon's shoulder, "don't worry none, just means we didn't give Jayne enough credit. Hell, they're prolly on the other side a that big ol' mountain."

"Alive and well," Book said as he came up behind them. Simon nodded tightly. "I hope so."

Kaylee looked up at him. "You know, you oughta wave your Dad and talk to 'im. See if you can't get im' ta loosen up 'bout River. I know ya can't go an' just let loose the fact that her an' Jayne are alone together 'cause it look bad fer yer folks, too, but I think maybe if yer Dad knew she was missing an' thought maybe he weren't ever gonna see 'er no more, he'd start thinkin' on what he was makin' her do."

"Kaylee, that's a bit cruel, don't you think?"

She glared at Book and shook her head adamantly. "I think it's less cruel than forcin' yer own flesh an' blood into a loveless marriage. Ain't right, makin' a girl get married when she don't gotta. She's old 'nough ta be makin' her own decisions. An' choosing who she wants to marry is one of those decisions only she should be makin'."

"I tend to agree, Kaylee," Book assured her, "but, I believe this particular situation is family business-"

Kaylee and Simon both snorted. Simon blushed bright red when both Kaylee and Book eyed him in surpise. He shrugged. "If opening up to people who I barely know will help me to free my sister from this contractual agreement, I'm all for it."

Kaylee made a face. "Contractual agreement?"


	7. Graying Skies

**I own nothing.**

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Jayne doggedly ignored River as she dangled her feet over the rock ledge into the clear pool of water, swishing them back and forth and humming to herself. It was becoming harder and harder to ignore her now that he'd kissed her and admitted that maybe he felt a little more than friendly toward her. Hell, he knew he'd always felt a little more than friendly toward her, but now that feeling was starting to get real hard to ignore. It wasn't the normal sort of feeling either. It was a serious thing and it felt different from all the other times. And Jayne was all too aware of what that difference was. Jayne leaned back farther against an overgrown tree root and covered his eyes with his arm to keep from having to look at her. It wasn't helping; he could hear her humming.

"Hey," he snapped harshly, "cut it out will ya? Bein' awful annoyin' lately."

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize it bothered you so," she said in a quiet voice, "You've never said anything about it before."

"Yeah, well I was tryin' ta be nice," he continued peevishly, "but yer gettin' on my nerves, so shut it an' leave me the hell alone."

There was a sharp stirring of guilt and Jayne bit his tongue to keep from apologizing. They had been walking along the dangerously thin line between friendship and actually love for several days and Jayne was tired of fighting the entirely too large part of his conscience that told him that they should act on their feelings.

But Jayne wasn't stupid man. Their worlds were too different physically and Jayne just _knew _that if he stopped pacing the line and let himself fall into the other side, he was going to be royally screwed. If he let himself grab a hold of her now, he'd never let go and that could be a dangerous thing for those who would no doubt try to interfere and keep him from her. It was just better to antagonize and snarl and snap at her so she would finally see how wrong it would be for them…

_Wrong._ It was such an ugly lie, it was no longer an observation on his part; it was no longer a fact. It was a boldfaced lie and Jayne was beginning to wonder just how long he'd been letting it flash in his mind since first meeting River. If it was wrong, why had he ever thought it in the first place? He'd never forgotten that feeling of being stabbed in the gut when he'd sat next to her at her brother's birthday, eating cake and silently brooding over the fact that he'd never meet anyone who cared even remotely as much about him as she did or blush half as much as she did when he complimented her. But he hadn't really focused on it then. She was too young and too sophisticated and the only reason he'd even thought on it was because he was irritated at the fact that he finally found someone with all the qualities he'd wanted in a woman and the girl who possessed each quality was barely out of pigtails.

But it wasn't wrong to still want those things; it never would be. And it certainly wasn't wrong to accept that the only person who could give those things to him was River. He could give those things back even. _Ain't all that hard, right,_he asked himself, _I wasn't lyin' when I told her she was special 'cause she is. Don't go outta my way fer nobody else but her. I can do this. I can…what? _His thoughts turn bitter and he scowled when the heavy thudding of his heart turned painful. _What am I gonna do? Play house with her 'til we get found an' then just let'er go like it weren't nothin'? Once she's gone…I let it happen, I ain't never getting' away from her. I'll be dead an' broke on my feet._ Jayne let the painful truth wash over him like ice water as he finally accepted the irrational emotion that rushed through ever vein in his body, burning him from the inside out like molten lava. It promised pain, loneliness, despair and Jayne couldn't convince himself to give a damn about it. He couldn't just sit around and twiddle his thumbs and wait until he died to finally be rid of it. It just simply wasn't an option anymore and Jayne began to feel mighty stupid for trying to remain ignorant to all of it. He was going to deal with it and he was going to deal with it right then.

Jayne was suddenly aware of just how eerily quiet it was, the only sound being that of the water lapping against the pool's edge. That was unsettling. Jayne pulled his arm away from his eyes and glanced around. River wasn't sitting on the ledge; she wasn't anywhere within sight. The sharp pang of guilt was back, tempered with a fair amount of panic and worry. Everything was where it had been earlier. She hadn't taken anything with her. Maybe she'd just wandered off a little ways. Jayne scowled to himself. He'd been awful mean to her lately, ignoring her for the most part and snapping at her when he couldn't any longer. His attitude had been affected in an attempt to push her away and it had obviously worked. Panic welled up inside him. He couldn't let it happen. He just couldn't let her think he didn't feel that way. She _had_ to know. She had to stay with him…even if it tore him up the minute she went back to the core. Jayne jumped to his feet and began to tear his way through the underbrush. "River?"

There was a loud clap of rolling thunder in the distance and the heady smell of rain in the air. There was going to be one hell of a downpour soon and River was in the middle of some weird jungle with nothing to protect her and it was his fault for being too stupid to realize that he loved her.

* * *

Simon stared at the familiar image on the cortex screen, trying desperately to stay calm. "Father, River is upset. I really do think it would be best for all if we were to postpone the wedding for at least another month or two."

"Simon, postponing the wedding is out of the question," Gabriel Tam said with an agitated shake of his head, "now I understand, that you and River are opposed to this arrangement-"

"Of course we are," Simon blurted out angrily. He snapped his mouth shut at the outraged expression on his father's face. Gabriel sat up just a bit straighter in his chair and his eyes narrowed, "While River has been quite...vocal about her objections, she has also shown great understanding. While I realize that she may be having trouble coming to terms-"

"Father, I'm not bringing her home until she's ready," Simon said in an even tone, causing his father to glare angrily. Simon took a deep breath and thought of his sister as he continued, "Now, River and I have been nothing but selfless in our attempts to uphold our family's name-to you and mother in particular. With privilege comes responsibility, to be sure, but this is not a responsibility. This is a business negotiation that you entered into without River's consent. As far as I am concerned, she is not the one who is to be held accountable if such contracts are broken; you are."

"Simon, River understands her responsibilities," Gabriel said in a voice so calm, Simon knew his father was furious, "something I thought up until now, you also understood."

"This is not a responsibility! It's slavery! You're selling your daughter," Simon cried angrily. Gabriel pinched the bridge of his nose, a telltale sign that he was ready to end the discussion. "River, though she has acted as if she is dissatisfied with her upcoming nuptials, has not outright expressed them, and until she does, I will not reconsider the arrangement. I will, however, push back the wedding another two weeks. If the two of you are not on a transport to Londinium by then, I will come to retrieve you myself. Is that clear?"

Simon clenched and unclenched his fists in an attempt to calm himself. "Yes, Sir."

"Good," Gabriel said shortly, "give your sister my love."

The WAVE cut off and Simon collapsed in the copilot's chair, rubbing his hands over his face tiredly. "Oh, River, where _are_ you?"

Simon was beginning to hope his sister didn't come back at all. If she did, he'd never be able to forgive himself for letting her be forced into marriage. He'd never be able to face his parents with anything less than disgust and he'd never be able to face her without feeling shame. But there was no way out of it; Gabriel Tam was going to give his daughter up for a few stocks and a bigger company and he was going to be forced to go along with it.

* * *

Gabriel Tam stared out the window of his office, watching as fat raindrops wound random paths down the glass of the window and collected on the sill. The sky was a dreary gray dotted with angrier, blacker clouds and he couldn't help but be partially amused by the realization that the weather was reflecting his current mood upon the other citizens of Capital City. Gabriel hadn't really been angry with Simon for questioning the engagement. He was angry at himself for letting himself be talked into it.

Regan Tam didn't love her husband even half as much as she claimed. It had always been fairly obvious to him that his most attractive quality as far as she was concerned, was how much money he made. It was that way with all society women; the men were just as bad and knowing he was forcing his daughter into a similar situation made the bile rise in his throat. But Regan had insisted had threatened to leave to go on a permanent vacation to Sihnon. There was no risk to it, but Regan had trumped him if only because she knew he couldn't stand the thought of being unable to see her every day. He hated her for knowing she was necessary, like oxygen. It made him hate hr even more to know that despite how much he loved his little girl, he loved her mother more and that it hurt him more to think of spending one day with Regan than it did to imagine River married and miserable for the rest of her life.

At the sound of the office door being pushed open, Gabriel turned from the window to find Regan lingering in the doorway. Her glacial eyes studied him critically. He could tell by the way they narrowed slightly that she knew exactly what she was thinking. "River will get over this. Once she's married, she'll understand her place here. She's known an arranged marriage was in her future since she was five."

He couldn't bite his tongue any longer. "But that doesn't mean she understands. I don't understand it."

"It's the way things work in the 'verse, Gabriel. This is how it must be."

"But why? Who decided this was the best way for people to live?"

Regan pursed her pale pink lips and set into him with a hard look. "Would you rather her chose someone of lower standing. If River wanted to marry the gardener would you let her? I shudder to even think about what people would say-"

"Oh yes, mustn't upset our friends. Our friends who are only our friends because we have as much, if not more money than them." He slammed a fist down on his desk. Regan didn't even flinch, but her eyes were becoming colder by the second. Gabriel glared back, resentment burning fast and hard in his chest. Regan's voice was cool as she spoke. "Do you even want to think of what would happen to your company if River married a Rim-trash hillbilly? That is the main reason we chose Atherton. He knows how to run a company. If we were to allow her to pick a proper suitor we'd be in danger of becoming in-laws to a hick possibly and what do they know about running a company? Nothing."

"River is more important to me than my business, Regan. A parent's children should always be more important."

"She is," she agreed, "her and her children are what will further the Tam name-"

"I don't mean it in that context. What we can do to care for her is what should be important-not what she can do for us."

"We are caring for her in doing this. Her place here on Osiris will be secured. She'll have everything she'll ever need."

Gabriel shook his head and turned away from her. The sky seemed even grayer and angrier than before. "No, she won't."


	8. Time's Up

**I own nothing.**

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She couldn't stop crying no matter how hard she tried. River blinked hard, trying to see through the blur of tears clouding her vision as she pushed through the bushes and branches in her path, heedless of the amount of noise she made. Jayne had always told her to be especially quiet in areas they were unfamiliar with. But that didn't matter. It just didn't matter anymore. Jayne had done nothing but yell at her for the past three days. He had been exceptionally cruel at times and it hurt. He had no reason to be angry with her. Jayne was fighting her and she couldn't understand why he would do such a thing. He didn't want to-not really. Still, he kept trying to push her away without really letting go. And it was because of this that River found herself stumbling through the forest, half blind from her tears as she fought hard to escape the unbearable aching in her chest that made her feels so childish, so insignificant, so very unimportant.

If Jayne didn't want her, really want her the way she had thought and she was destined to be married off upon rescue, than what was the point in trying to survive and be found? A life without meaning was a waste and River felt her life would be of more use braving this uncharted wilderness alone and irreparably heartbroken than spend the rest of it in an opulent mansion where wealth and prestige were poor substitutes for love and freedom. If no one was willing to share it with her, she would find it on her own and find a way to manage.

River didn't notice it had begun to rain until she found herself sprawled out in a large mud puddle and finally felt the fat droplets of water that splattered across her skin and matted down her hair. River scrambled to her feet and wiped the rainwater and tears from her face, turning every which way as she studied her surroundings. Straight ahead had been the safest bet, but now she wasn't sure which way was straight ahead. River found herself feeling very stupid.

_Poor little, River, _she thought bitterly to herself, _can't do anything right. Always in need of rescuing. Always in need, but never needed._ Her self-ridicule fueled her indignation with the 'verse at large, fueled her need for self-preservation in the face of rejection and she picked a random direction and tore off, tears springing forth anew. _I will get through this. I have to._

Unable to run any further, her mind and body exhausted and cold from the rain and the despair she felt at her situation, River collapsed on the muddied ground. The only warmth she found was from the hot tears streaking down her face. _I can't. I can't make any of it stop. _River buried her face in her hands as her body was racked with sobs. She would be found; she was a Tam, upper-class royalty. There was no way her parents or Simon would rest until she was found. And once she was, she would be married off to a man she didn't know or love to be nothing more than his pretty little trophy wife. And Jayne would go back to Inara. She could almost see how relieved the other woman would be when Jayne made it back to his ship. He would be kissed and clung to and River would be forced to live out the rest of her life with the knowledge that the only man she could ever love was in love with another woman and that his feelings were reciprocated. River hiccupped through a ragged intake of air as she tried to collect herself. She would have to learn to cope. River scooted out of the mud and under an absurdly broad plant leaf and hugged her knees to her chest.

Everything depended on her. If she didn't return home and get married, her father's business would fall to ruin. _Besides, being with a man from the rim would cause an out and out scandal. Simon would never find a girl to marry him with a ruined reputation and mother would become a social pariah. It would be all my fault._ _And even if he does feel the same…how could I live my life knowing he loved me when I'm married to another man? _

He was so close he could hear her sobbing. He had never heard a woman cry like that and knowing River was the one doing the crying made it feel as though someone had stabbed him in the heart with a knife and twisted it. He pushed through the vined branches of a smaller tree into a muddied clearing. His breath caught painfully when he finally found her. She was sitting under a plant with big leaves in the mud, arms curled around her drawn up knees as she cried into them, her body shaking so hard it looked painful. He felt as if he were choking as he tried to breathe, tried to speak. "River."

She looked up at the sound of her name being spoken, her eyes shimmering with more tears waiting to be shed. He was so far away and yet so very close and just looking at him hurt. It made her want to stop breathing, stop thinking. River let out a choked gasp and turned her head away as she started to cry again. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair. She covered her face with her hands, silently willing him to leave her there, go back to their campsite and pretend she didn't exist.

"We should never have found each other. I can't-Loving you-"

River let out a shocked cry as he yanked her up off the ground, winding his arms around her in a vice like grip and kissed her hard. Her reaction was automatic; River clutched at him desperately, one hand fisted in his hair and the other clenching his bulging bicep as she kissed him back just as forcefully. She kissed him even more desperately as she felt his razor thoughts bleed into her own. They shouldn't allow it. There was no way the outcome was going to be in their favor. When they went back, they would be leaving each other. They would be empty again.

The future was pushing in on them viciously and she sobbed against his mouth. "There's not enough time."

"Never will be, River," answered back before kissing her again and River forced herself to forget, if only for a few minutes what lay ahead of them. Jayne was clinging to her just as fiercely, bending her back in his arms, hands running over her frantically. River pulled at his shirt as he backed her up against a tree, moaning has his lips traveled from hers to her neck, sucking biting her roughly as his hand fell to the hem of her translucent, white gown and hiked it up around the tops of her thighs. She ripped his shirt as she pulled it over his head and their mouths came back together harder and more urgently than before. River was grateful she'd been able to see Jayne shirtless several times over the course of their journey as now she was too preoccupied with kissing him to really look and so, instead let her hands run over him in frantic, shaky caresses

"I ain't ever gonna…" he trailed off as they pulled apart, their eyes burning with hurt as they stared, willing the other to see how much it mattered even if it shouldn't. Jayne closed his eyes briefly at the feel of her hands tugging at his belt; He pulled her further up his body, holding her arms up over her head as she wrapped her legs around his waist. With his free hand, he ripped away her underwear, gripped her hip tightly, and he thrust into her.

River gasped in pain, despite her inability to truly care enough to make him slow down. There wasn't enough time and it mattered more that she was with Jayne than that it was her first time with anyone. She pushed back up against him, the painful throb began to morph, melting into pleasure, her body responding to the urgency of the coupling. River leaned into him, needing to feel his lips against hers. Jayne sealed his lips over hers and unwound his finger from around her wrists. River wasted no time in laying hands on him. She needed to feel him, all of him. Jayne's thrusting was becoming increasingly erratic in answer to her own uneven ones.

River's chest heaved unevenly as she watched them fade. "I love you," she cried brokenly and they fell together, shuddering into one another's body. And it was over. They were over and the emptiness began to settle in around them. River watched, insides wilting as resignation crept into his crystalline eyes. She ran her fingers along his jaw, voice trembling, "I love you, Jayne Cobb."

He rocked back and away from the tree, pulling her with him. The crush of their bodies pressed together was only another thing in a long list of things they would forever be without. "How long do we have?"

She averted her gaze. "Just the here and now. You belong to someone else…and so do I."

Jayne's mind reeled as her words ripped at him. The pain was only lessened by the look of pain on her face. Her voice was raw when she spoke. "You'll go back and Inara will come to you, wrap you up in her and keep you and never let go. I'll go back to Osiris where I'll be placed on another man's shelf and I'll pretend it never was."

"But you can't." Jayne was aware of the pleading tone of his voice, but he couldn't make himself stop. "You can't. I can't-we can't not be!" He pushed her dark hair from her face and whispered, "I need you, River."

River sniffed as she smoothed her hand across his scruffy cheek and tears streamed down her face. His expression was relaxed and confident but she could feel the panic just beneath surface. She could feel him trying to smother the hurt in his chest, telling himself that it was going to be okay, it was going to work out. Her eyes filled with tears again. "Jayne."

He brought up a shaky hand to cup her face, tightening his hold on her. "If we hurry we can get out of here, be off planet before any of 'em catch up to us. Let's just run, River. We'll get gone an' stay gone."

"Please," he begged, "I won't last with you gone."

She shook her head and cried against him, arms wrapped tightly around his neck as she scanned the shadows of the jungle around them. "It's too late."

* * *

The mud was deep and the bushes were tangling. It was miserable day to be trudging through jungle and Mal could think of any other thing he would rather be doing. Attempting to nail protein J-ELLO to the hull of the ship was one of them. He was cold, he was hungry, and he was very very tired. But they were close. He and Zoe had spent the entire day trudging through the underbrush. Sure the jungle covered a large area, but they had been combing through it for the past three days, returning to a nearby town before nightfall. He could only hope the rain let up with the next two hours. There was no way they'd make it back if it was storming around dusk.

Mal whipped around to look at Zoe when she grabbed his arm, stopping him dead in his tracks. She leaned toward him, eyes trained ahead. "You hearin' that?"

Mal froze as he concentrated on the sounds around him. The sound of rain pounding down on the foliage around them was the loudest, but he heard it. Something-_someone_-was crying; And it wasn;t your normal crying at that. It was deep, soul-wrenching sobs. He jerked his head in the direction it was coming from and he and Zoe began to move slowly through the trees, mindful of where they stepped. It didn't take long for them to find the source. Her white nightgown stood out in stark contrast to the vibrantly colored plants surrounding her.

Zoe's eyes scanned the area. "Where the hell is Jayne?"

Mal remained silent as the possible scenarios streaked through his head. "He's somewhere."

He could almost feel Zoe purse her lips beside him, silent as always as she began to consider what had happened much in the same way he had.

"Probably wouldn't be such a good idea if we just strolled up to her here and now-not with her sobbin' th'way she is when Jayne ain't around." He pointed off to one side. "You go around and see if you can find 'im and I'll-"

Mal stopped once he caught sight of Jayne as he pushed through a particularly thick section of saplings and overgrown greenery and stopped short as his eyes landed on River and narrowed as he watched her weep. The raspy timber of Jayne's voice when he spoke was shocking. "River."

She cried harder, gasping. "…-Loving you-"

All Mal could do was watch as they clung to each other, hands searching, devouring each other's lips. It was like some movie on the cortex about some kinda love that was outta reach and couldn't be found in reality. And Mal could feel it, feel how painful and torturous it was. Zoe clutched his arm, fingers trembling and even though he couldn't tear his eyes away he knew she could feel it. All he could do was watch the two fall into each other against the tree, racing toward something he wasn't sure he himself would ever experience. They looked broken and alive and fragile and painful.

Though Mal knew what it was what he was really seeing, he couldn't really understand it. It was too surreal to wrap his head around. It was something people told you about happening but never actually witnessed. He just couldn't really see it, but it had to have been-

Mal had seen Jayne with a number of women in the time they'd worked together. He'd seen him pinch and squeeze and palm and lick any number of whore or woman he sweet talked in the bar to sit in his lap during a game of tall card. He'd seen him chase 'em upstairs to the rooms. Even seen him kiss on a couple of local girls in hotel hallways before he got 'em inside the room, but not once had he gotten as thoroughly worked up as he was with River Tam and it stood to reason that there was somethin' more powerful at work than just a need for sexin'.

From the moment he saw Jayne Cobb haul River Tam up into his arms and kiss her with all he had and more, Mal knew he was seein' somethin' big. There was no way it was gonna end well either.

Mal tore his gaze away, unable to watch as Jayne cradled the crying girl to his chest and pleaded with her to run with him. Mal swore to himself mentally as he took in Zoe's stricken expression. "How are we supposed to turn this girl over to her folks now?"

"We gotta, Zoe, this ain't our business-no matter how complicated this little development makes it."

"This ain't no little development, Mal-this is," Her voice suddenly sounded so very small to him. "Don't think Wash has ever looked at me that way…"

Mal settled a firm hand on her shoulder. "Let's get this over with."

Just as Mal started toward Jayne and the girl, something pricked them both in the necks. Mal pulled the dart from his neck and studied it with a grim expression. He opened his mouth to say something-anything-and couldn't find his voice as he fell to his knees. He took one last look over at Jayne. The last thing he saw was Jayne holding tightly to River's limp body as he fell to the ground and passed out cold.

* * *

Simon had been napping on the couch in the common room when Wash awoke him with a shake, looking nervous. Simon rubbed at his bleary, sleep filled eyes. "Are they back? Did they find them?"

Wash shook his head in an almost dizzyingly rapid motion. Simon sat up further once he processed the fact that Wash was looking very distressed. "What's happened?"

"Your Father WAVED." He fidgeted, frowning in worry. "Simon, somehow he found out about your sister being missing-"

Simon jumped to his feet. "Wha-how?"

Wash shook his head, holding up his hands. "I don't know. He wants to talk to you."

Simon practically raced toward the bridge. Gabriel Tam stared up at him from the cortex, his expression stony. Just as Simon opened his mouth to speak, Gabriel intoned darkly. "I have been informed that River went missing and is currently in the company of someone with a less than sterling reputation. While I am more than livid at you for withholding this information from me, I am more concerned with your sister's well-being and have arranged transport for myself to Heinlein. I will be there before the first of the month."

The WAVE cut out and Simon exhaled heavily as he began to panic. He was still having trouble coming to grips with his father having found up and now…"Oh, God, what am I going to do?!"

"Simon, it's going to be fine," Wash assured him weakly. "It'll sort itself out; all things do."

"It's getting more complicated by the minute! Unless by some strange miracle River walks onto this ship within the next minute, her fiancé spontaneously bursts into flames, and my father comes down with a severe case of amnesia after being hit in the head by a stapler that was thrown at him by some irate employee and he forgets all about this, I don't think it's going to sort itself out," Simon exploded, chest heaving as he regarded Wash with wild, frantic eyes, "Oh, this is not good!"

Wash giggled to himself nervously, "Maybe he'll get lost on his way here…"

Simon wandered out of the bridge woodenly, pulling at his hair as he searched his mind for a viable solution to his current predicament. Wash watched him go with wide eyes. "Oh, boy, this ain't good."


	9. The Crush of Defeat

**I own nothing.**

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River awoke disoriented and frightened. She crawled across the soft white flooring toward the door. Like the wall, it was clear, thick glass. She placed the flats of her palms upon it and stared out at the narrow white hallway. There was whispering from farther down than she could see and she chased the light sound, pushing up against the door with her entire front and focused. She had to know where she was, if Jayne was nearby, if he was okay.

Just as she began to grasp the whispering, blood curdling screaming whipped down the hallway and River flung herself away from the door. It was then she noticed she was wearing some medical outfit meant for patients. She held her arms out around herself and began to shake when she caught sight of the needle marks. In an irrational burst of panic she ran her hands through her hair-checking for what she wasn't sure.

She crawled back to the door and leaned against it. She had to know. She clenched her fists against the smooth glass as she fought past the screaming. Everything was a swirl of chaos.

_Subject Marlow, Gavin R. was terminated by Subject _ _Malin, Arianna C._

_The program has finally been perfected and Psychosis is no longer an issue. _

_I just want to go home!_

_They put flowers in the Captain's pipe again._

_He's already proficient with weaponry. Very good subject, still highly maliable-_

River gasped and stood to pace the length of the wall. "Jayne!"

No sooner had his name left her lips than she felt it trickle through her mind. She had arrived ahead of schedule.

* * *

Jayne knew they had her. Why they took him and what exactly they were playin' at, he weren't sure, but he weren't too comfortable with the way they kept lookin' at him. Was like they thought he was an insect. They'd told him right off the bat that he was lucky they weren't still workin' off their old program like he knew what the hell they meant. Said they figured it best to stop tryin' to physically alter their subjects.

Jayne didn't care one way or the other what they were gonna do to him when he overheard them talking about River. Said she was dead. He didn't care no more what they wanted after that. Did what they told him to. He felt better for a bit afterward, but then it was gone and all he could think about was her…They told him how pleased they were that he already knew how to kill a man or two efficiently. They didn't know his name an' they didn't know his occupation. Found it funny that they called him by a number. 23. Kinda made him think maybe they had forty-one other subjects they didn't rightly know much about.

They had him kill young ones. Kids barely outta their teens. He didn't hesitate an' he knew that it was either him or them. Sometimes he wondered if maybe they'd sent River in with someone like him an' that how she'd died. That thought made him want to put a bullet to himself.

It didn't take him long to figure out that they thought he was special. When the guards would walk him back, they would take him down corridor after corridor of plain white cells. He didn't have a cell. What he had reminded him of a two room passenger bunk on a transport ship. They fed him good, gave him every weapon he could ever want. Sometimes, they even gave him some liquor. But there was always something in it…something that made him understand why he had to do what they told them to. He couldn't feel much anymore. Weren't anything left to feel for anyhow.

* * *

It was dark when Mal finally opened his eyes. He'd been out for hours. He roused Zoe. He'd had to give her a good smack to get her to come to and they'd scoured the area. What had been Jayne and River's campsite was didn't yield any clues as to what had happened. There were boot prints all around-too many to have just come from Jayne. As they passed back through the clearing, they found a few patches of blood mixed in with the muddied earth.

"This just keeps gettin' better an' better," Mal bit out heatedly. Zoe studied their surroundings cautiously. "What do we do, Sir."

Mal shrugged helplessly. "Don't rightly know. Right now, we need to get back. We'll figure it out from there."

When they reached Serenity, the crew was down in the bay along with two unfamiliar individuals. Simon gestured to oldest of the pair. "Captain Reynolds, this is my father, Gabriel Tam."

They nodded their greetings to one another and Mal studied the younger man standing next to him. Somethin' about him set Mal's teeth on edge. Zoe wasn't lookin' at him too trustingly either. Simon pointed to him and said in a forced voice, "and this is Atherton Wing, River's fiancé."

"After being informed of my daughter's kidnapping, I felt it was necessary that I come straight away." He tossed his son a somewhat approving look. "Thank goodness Simon had enough sense to keep this incident from becoming public knowledge. Have you found anything?"

Mal nodded, his mouth set in a thin line. Kaylee knew that look and burst into tears. He sighed and cleared his throat. "Someone snatched my mercenary and your daughter."

"What," Book exclaimed, "how did those men find them?"

"No way it was them woman snatchers," Mal explained. "Whoever it was, there was a lot of 'em."

"By the look of it, it had to have been at least a dozen men, maybe more and they weren't after nothin' more than the two of them."

"How can you be sure of that?"

Zoe raised an eyebrow at the preacher. Book clutched his bible a little tighter as he reasoned it out. "River, I'm sure is well known because of your standing within the core worlds, but Jayne? The only people who know of him are those who have…done business with him or have heard tell of his reputation, which while well-known on the rim isn't core knowledge. "

"Well, then why take both a them? If they was after River, why take him, too?"

"Wouldn't know, knocked us out…" Mal trailed off as he slowly pieced it together in his mind and he didn't like what he came up with. "Sonofabitch must've fought 'em off."

"Well if'n he was puttin' up a fight, why didn't they just kill 'em," Kaylee asked, though she wasn't sure she wanted an answer. "Once Jayne gets riled like that…well we all have seen what happens."

She wrapped her arms around herself. "I ain't likin' where this is goin'."

Mal shook his head, trying to shake the anger that enveloped him. So much trouble for one girl. Now they'd lost the best gun hand in the rim. "Wash, set a course for Osiris. Time we got these folks back to their world."

Wash's face crumpled in confusion. "Mal?"

"Now, Wash."

"But…Mal," Kaylee gasped in a small voice, "what about River. An' Jayne? We just gonna leave an' pretend ain't nothin' bad happened?"

"Wash," Mal snapped and they all jumped back. Zoe took a hold of her husband's arm, head lowered. "C'mon, Dear, let's get this boat in the air."

"Zoe, he can't be serious," Wash argued as he let her lead him toward the bridge. Kaylee blinked away her tears and back away as she retreated toward the engine room. Mal ignored those left in the bay as he tromped toward his bunk to think things over.

Book stared down at the bible in his hands, eyebrows knit in intense thought while Inara stared out past the open ramp and tried hard to remain composed. She just couldn't picture Serenity without the big rough man she thought she had despised so much and she brought hand up her face in a last ditch effort to hold in a disbelieving sob.

"I'm never going to see her again, my sister…" Inara wrapped an arm around Simon's shoulder, anchoring herself to him. He clutched her around her waist and watched as the slight drizzle of rain outside turned ominous.

Book turned and left. Gabriel Tam came to stand on the other side of his son, still looking stern. "We'll find her, Simon."

Atherton retreated to his passenger dorm and called into his office. "Mr. Wing?"

"Good work, I take it River Tam is in custody?"

"Yes, Sir."

"And the mercenary? I was just informed he was also brought in. Why?"

"It was determined he could be of some use to us."

"Very well. Please keep me informed of their progress." Atherton settled down on the edge of his bunk and pulled out a large file of paperwork, all of which were marked with his company's prominent header, The Blue Sun Corporation.

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_To be continued in the Sequel...._


End file.
